


Beyond Weapons and Birds

by rhodonitedreams



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Brat!Ruby, Drinking, Dysfunctional Family, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Jaune not so much, Light Angst, Nora has PTSD, Noragami AU, Not a lot though, OOC Ruby, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Ren and Nora are just normal humans, Ruby is done with Qrow's shit, So is Amber, Some angst, Some of this will follow Noragami canon, Will add more tags as story continues, but not entirely
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-07 17:06:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21461527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhodonitedreams/pseuds/rhodonitedreams
Summary: Qrow Branwen is the God of Misfortune. Ruby Rose is his devoted shinki. The two of them fight through the land of Remnant, destroying Grimm, battling evil and finding a way to stop the Mistress of Darkness known as Salem for good.
Relationships: Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc/Ruby Rose, Qrow Branwen/Summer Rose, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 10
Kudos: 62





	1. Lifetime

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so here it is! The first chapter of my RWBY!Noragami AU! I'm actually really excited since I love both of these shows so much, and I have so much planned for this AU. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter and feedback is appreciated!

Playing god and actually being a god were two completely different things in the eyes of Qrow Branwen. On top of that, he wasn't the most known god on the face of Remnant, not compared to the amounts of other gods of fortune and wealth and other bullshit. Apparently, being the god of misfortune doesn't really strike you as the famous type.

Qrow had only two shinki his entire existence. Who could blame him? No shinki with a sense of logic would ever dare risk themselves or their name and existence to take up with a god of bad luck. Not a god who had lost his first shinki to the heavens, and gotten his second shinki killed.

Summer Rose. She was exceptional. The only person Qrow would count on to protect his life with and vise versa. She was also the only shinki he knew that was supposedly immune to the god's greatest secret.

She remembered her life vividly. Her unfortunate death as well, along with her 13 year old daughter she asked Qrow to promise to keep an eye on with her. So they did.

They watched her every day as she walked home from school, humming slightly to the music coming from her earbuds, tapping her hands on her tighs to the rhythm of her song, making her way down the block to the foster home she was placed it, and everytime she walked inside Qrow always felt Summer tense up and cringe at the sight.

Yet two years later is when the unforgettable day of turmoil took place.

It wasn't supposed to end like this, it wasn't. Qrow had called for her and she turned into his beautiful crystalized spear as he dove right into a sea of Grimm, waiting to be cleansed and disposed of. One by one he took them out, Summer doing well to maneuver his movements and sharpen the attacks like she always did, she was a natural. What she didn't notice, was a blur of black and red out of the corner of his eye, more Grimm appeared from the sky, the ground, everywhere.

It was then that he took sight of a large black figure lunging right at him, armed with a sword and going full speed. Time slowed. Qrow knew he wasn't going to make it out of this one. So he stopped thinking, and let his bad luck take over.

_QROW! _

But instead of dying like he thought he would, he heard a loud thick shatter fill the void of his ears.

Qrow opened his eyes, only to be faced with the worst fate he could ever face. There, shattered into a million pieces, in front of him, was Summer. She had protected him, she had saved him. And in the process, she gave up her name.

Qrow stood there, in shock, unable to comprehend what just happened in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the creature responsible for the attack. Salem. God of Darkness. He didn't care about that right now. All he could hear was the sound of his own racing heart, and the feeling of Summer's name being ripped away from his body like a thick string.

_Take care... of Ruby... for me... please... _

He heard her liable plead as time began to resume, Summer only disappeared farther into the depths of nothingness as Salem retreated, assuming there was no point in killing a god after killing his only shinki. In once swift moment, all the sounds of the earth quieted and all the Grimm were gone. All Qrow was left with was the glass crystal pieces of his spear, of Summer.

His second shinki was lost.

—————————

He spent everyday watching Ruby on a rooftop where he could see he walk to and from school every day. He watched her walk into that small foster home of hers and disappear until morning, invisible to her human eye.

He watched her for two years. Everyday. He'd notice little changes every once in a while, like when she got red highlights or when she got new boots. He'd always pay attention to the little details. And she'd always smile and walk, optimistic, just like her mother.

It was one day where that didn't happen. Qrow didn't see her come home.

He memorized the exact times she would leave for school and come back, and sure she was late a few times, but this time it didn't feel right. Qrow found himself heading to Ruby's school, a place he'd memorized as well, but found nothing regarding the whereabouts of Summer's daughter. He then checked her foster home. Maybe he'd missed her, although he'd doubt it. Still, he found nothing, no signs of the silver-eyed girl anywhere.

He decided to head towards the school once more, case he missed any small detail. This time from the ground, walking in her steps in an attempt for better luck. Like he had any.

But right before he could make the turn to cross the street back over to the school, he noticed a crowd and a rush of sirens, all originating from a crash in the middle of the street. He realized it way sooner than he should've.

_No... not again... _

He rushed into the sea of people and police, looking for any signs of a girl with black hair and silver eyes.

"Yes, we've identified the girl who had been hit." That caught his attention. Qrow turned to the source of the sentence and saw an officer talking to another officer. He desperately hoped the girl they mentioned wasn't the same girl he was searching for.

"She's a 15 year-old female, black short hair and silver-eyes. Height around 5'1. Name is Ruby Rose."

Qrow's heart stopped. Ruby, Summer's Ruby, his Ruby. They were describing his Ruby. He didn't want to continue listening. But he did anyways.

"Did she make it to the hospital?" The second officer asked, and for a split second, Qrow considered finding out which hospital she was at.

"She..." The first officer shook his head, and placed a face of sympathetic sadness. "She didn't make it. She died on the way, apparently from a stroke. We called social services to try and contact her foster family."

And once Qrow heard those words, he ran.

He kept running, all over the city of Vale, through every street and past every alley, he didn't stop running. Not until he passed a shining small spec of light, and approached it with caution and carefulness, reciting only one simple chant.

_"You, with nowhere to go and nowhere to return. I grant you a place to belong." _

And from that moment on, Ruby's afterlife had begun.


	2. Red Scythes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow gets an unexpected visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiya. i know it's been a while and I wanted to get the second chapter up as soon as possible but the holidays got crazy and I barely had time to get this posted. hope you enjoy the second chapter!

To say Ruby didn't enjoy the afterlife would be a lie. She felt free, she felt alive. Even more so than when she actually was. Living limitlessly without the bounds of humanity, slaying Grimm and protecting the soul's of Remnant. This was the life Ruby wanted.

She wasn't alone either. She had Qrow, of course. She also had Weiss, her best friend who she technically wasn't supposed to talk to. (She was the shinki of Winter, one of the Gods of Fortune and man, did her and Qrow hate each other). 

She obviously didn't tell Qrow about her friendship with Weiss, he'd go insane if he ever found out. That was one thing she never understood. Qrow's relationship with Winter was very confusing.

Weiss was pretty much the only friend Ruby did have. Qrow was never a favorite in other God's eyes and neither was Ruby for associating with him. Other shinki would always ask her why she bothers around a God of Misfortune, why she willingly follows a being who only brings tragedy and bad luck. She never bothers to listen.

Weiss, the prized shinki of a God of Fortune, was the only one who believed in her, who saw more to her than just who her master was.

—————————

"I just don't understand why they hate each other so much." Ruby said, sitting on the edge a small river next to Weiss. She huffed, throwing a small rock into the water. "It's honestly stupid."

Weiss turned to look at her, watching the frustrated girl before rolling her eyes and turning back to the river. "Complaining won't do anything about it."

Ruby groaned. "Yeah well, it gets annoying having to sneak out everytime."

Weiss stood up, dusting the dirt of her uniform before extending an arm for Ruby, who graciously accepted and stood. The two continued holding hands even after Ruby was standing.

Ruby blushed, turning her head the opposite way so Weiss couldn't see her. She didn't know why she always felt like this with her, it was hard enough being secretly friends with her.

Weiss cleared her throat and snapped Ruby out of her thinking, raising an eyebrow to her and motioning to their hands.

"So, can I have my hand back now?"

Ruby stared, dumbstruck before blinking, moving her gaze to their hands. Ruby's eyes widened, letting go of Weiss's hand and returning her own to her side, laughing awkwardly.

"S-Sorry," she studdered, turning her head the other way so once again, Weiss wouldn't see her blush.

"Are you okay?" the white-haired shinki asked while eyeing her questioningly. "You're acting weird."

"I-I'm fine. We should go before someone sees us." She said, walking with Weiss trailing behind.

—————————

Ruby made her way back home to the small apartment that belonged to Qrow, grabbing the spare key from her pocket and unlocking the door. She set the key on the kitchen counter and made her way through the living room and to her own room.

"And where were you?" A voice rang out from behind. She turned around to see Qrow sitting on the couch with his flask in one hand and a piece of paper in the other.

_Don't lie. He'll know._ "I was down at the river. Just wanted to clear my mind." Technically that wasn't a lie.

"Ah." Qrow looked at her before taking a long sip from his flask. Ruby frowned at the action.

"You know I hate when you do that." She said, crossing her arms as she watched him put his flask down.

"Shut up." He said, waving the piece of paper at her. "We've got a job. You coming?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, walked up to the man and swiped the flask away, ignoring his protests to give it back. 

"Obviously." She snorted. "You'd die in a matter of seconds without me."

—————————

The location given on the paper was a church, abandoned near the ruins of Mountain Glenn. The note stated there was a group of Grimm that needed to be taken care of, however, when Qrow and Ruby appeared at the scene, it was empty.

"Someone must've beat us too it." She shrugged, kicking the rubble. "Too bad, I was looking forward to a fight."

"Quiet. Someone's here." Qrow shushed her, Ruby immediately closed her mouth, looking in his direction before turning her gaze towards the ruins surrounding them.

There were faint, very faint footsteps that could be heard in the distance, stepping in rhythm across the dirt.

Then, a chuckle.

"The God of Misfortune. Isn't this a surprise?"

Qrow tensed. He knew that voice anywhere. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Ozpin." He growled, calling for Ruby as she turned into his scythe which he raised. "The hell are you doing here?"

"What, I can't say hi to an old friend?" Ozpin smiled, but it was eerie. "Where's the other woman? The spear?"

_"You know damn well what happened to her!"_ He shouted, causing Ruby to flinch. 

She was confused, but she kept quiet. She knew the 'other woman' referred to was her mother but she had no idea who the man in front of them was. 

"This must be a new weapon then? It looks lovely. You were always better at scythes."

"Shut up." Qrow spat, raising his scythe higher, threatening to strike. "Why the hell did you bring me here? To gloat over Summer's death? How sickening."

"You know it wasn't me who killed her."

"Yeah, but you helped the monster who did." Qrow snarled.

Ozpin blinked, his expression turned cold and meaningless. "Sacrifices must be made to kept our world in balance. Misfortune is not something this world needs."

That last statement made Ruby mad.

"I can see why you're angry at this guy." She told Qrow, making sure to keep her composure, for his sake.

"Ruby, please stay out of this." He muttered, causing Ruby to close her mouth and left every opinion of hers unspoken.

Ozpin chuckled. "Ruby. Is that what her daughter's name was?" He tapped his chin.

"Get the fuck out of here." Qrow hissed, keeping his grip on the scythe.

"Qrow, I merely came to talk." He held out his cane. "I will revert my weapon if you revert yours."

"Do it then."

Ozpin smiled, satisfied. "Revert, Ozma."

The cane in Ozpin's hands transformed into a young boy with dark hair, around the age of 14.

Qrow huffed, lowering his scythe. "Revert, Ruby."

Ruby changed back from her scythe form and back into her body form. She kept her gaze on Ozpin, slowly eyeing both him and the boy who she assumed was his shinki.

"So, let's talk then."


	3. Worship a God

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conversations between gods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! first thing i want to mention. there is a lot of stuff that gets introduced this chapter that will be explained later on as we get into future chapters. i have (so far) everything planned for this au, it's just a matter of implementing them into the story.
> 
> anyways, with that being said, i hope you enjoy the chapter!

"So, lets talk then."

The two men stood, with their shinkis. Ruby kept her gaze on the man, watching him carefully.

Ozma on the other hand, kept his gaze on the floor, not saying a word. Ruby noticed him, making sure he didn't try anything either, along with Ozpin. If Qrow didn't like him, she didn't either.

"I know you hate me, but Summer was innocent."

Ozpin shook his head. "She was collateral damage."

"Bullshit." Qrow spat, resisting the urge to call Ruby and end his life.

Ozpin sighed. "Maybe making a deal with Salem wasn't the brightest."

Qrow scoffed. "There's a thought."

Ozpin didn't reply, but he turned his head to the girl behind Qrow. "Is she a blessed vessel too?"

Ruby froze, eyes furrowing in confusion. That term. Why would he ask that? She turned to Qrow. "What's he talking about."

Qrow turned to Ruby, giving her a look, before turning back to Ozpin. "That's none of your business. Don't change the subject, why the hell did you make a deal with Salem to kill me?"

Ozpin chuckled. "I already told you."

"You didn't elaborate."

"As the God of Light, it is my job to keep the Far Shore in balance. I may be associated with the heavens but I am also responsible for what happens outside of them."

Qrow snorted. "Yeah, and I guess you we're responsible for what happened to my first shinki, right."

"She was uncontrollable-"

"No, you all made her uncontrollable!" Qrow snapped, anger overriding his expression as he held out a hand in front of Ruby. "You took the poor girl away from me, then you killed the next woman I found. You are not going to lay a finger on _her_."

Despite the lack of understanding she had on the conversation, Ruby could tell he was referring to her. She gulped, wanting the conversation to end as quickly as it started. She just wanted to kill some damn Grimm.

Ozpin's once casual tone, now turned into one of menace and warning. "It is my job to keep the Far Shore in order. If you want to live, stay out of my way."

He turned, and began walking away, his shinki following after him, leaving no more room for discussion, ultimately closing the conversation. Qrow clenched his fists, the anger only increasing.

Ruby was thankful the man walked away, and assumed the conversation was over, but did not anticipate Qrow's next words.

"What did I ever _do_ to you!? I'm a god, just like you!"

This stopped Ozpin, and he spoke, only this time he didn't turn around.

"You are nothing like me, and you will never be like me. You are only what you are: a sorry excuse for a god that this world did not need."

Qrow wanted to respond, he wanted to kill the damn bastard, but the Ruby gave him a look that told him not to. As much as she didn't like this Ozpin either, killing a god (a god of the heavens moreless) would result in real consequences, and they both knew that.

"It's a shame. That woman should've stopped at Raven's wish."

Qrow's eyes widened at the mention of his sister's name. "How dare you, you _sick_ _fucking bastard-_"

But before Qrow could finish his curse at the other god, Ozpin simply continued walking, the shinki following as he disappeared from view.

Ruby and Qrow had been left there alone, nothing but the rubble of the old abandoned church and the heavy words of Ozpin.

Ruby was shocked to say the least. She never once seen another god so... intimidating. She had never met the Gods of Heaven before, and she definitely didn't want to meet the rest now. The way Ozpin talked, he discussed the very issue of her mother's death as if it were a casual conversation. That sickened her most, the way he described Qrow as an insufficient being that shouldn't be allowed to exist — that didn't help either.

She turned to Qrow, noticing his stiff posture, his still clenched fists and his pale face. His expression was stone still and the aura around him felt dull. She knew what would happen when he got like that.

"I need a drink."

Ruby frowned as he started walking. She ran to catch up to him, stopping in front of him.

"Drinking isn't the answer, Qrow. We just need to-"

"Go home, Ruby." He said, ignoring her persuading as he moved to walk around her. Ruby scoffed as he passed her, crossing her arms as she let him continue walking. She saw him turn the corner back towards the city, as she shook her head.

"I swear if it's not getting stabbed to death, it'll be drinking to death." She muttered to herself as she began walking, rounding the corner that led her back to the city. She made a mental note to visit Amber and Tai after she dragged a drunk Qrow out of whatever bar he stumbled upon, and left to wander the streets of Vale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> side note: this wouldn't be the first time ruby would have to drag her drunk of a master out of a bar. she's silently waiting for the day she stops giving any shits and leaves him to sleep on the sidewalk outside their apartment.
> 
> as always, comments are always appreciated! :)


	4. Yellow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby is done with Qrow's shit. So is Amber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! I just wanted to say sorry for taking so long for this update. I just finished my exams last week so I hadn't had any time to write until this week. But anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter!

The infamous God of Wind, Amber was in the living room of her house, going through reports of recent Grimm sightings while her shinki, Tai was cleaning in the kitchen behind her. She sighed, shuffling through the endless amounts of crumpled paperwork before she heard a quiet knock at the door.

She shoved the stack of papers to the side, discarding them as she moved towards the front of the house. She didn't bother looking in the peephole before opening the door to reveal a tired and worn out Ruby standing there.

"Afternoon, Amber." The young girl said, wiping her forehead with her sleeve.

"Whoa. Ruby. What a surprise." She said. "What are you doing here?"

Ruby sighed, clearly out of breath. "Well I-"

Before Ruby could finish her explain, she was shoved to the side, hitting her arm against the doorframe. Qrow stumbled right passed her and into the house, clearly ignoring her and Amber's presence. Amber saw the drunk flop on the floor unconscious and sighed in response, bringing her hand to massage the bridge of her nose.

"Why am I not surprised?" She asked, sarcastically, earning a shrug from the young shinki, who made her way into the house, shutting the door behind her.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, that walk was exhausting. I'm gonna take a shower." And with that, Ruby dismissed herself upstairs without further question, leaving Amber to deal with the unconscious man on her floor.

Amber shook her head before sighing heavily and moving to carry the god over to the couch.

"Did he get drunk again?" Tai walked into the living room from the kitchen, standing in front of the doorway, arms crossed with a blank expression. He let out a snort when Amber knocked into the coffee table, dropping Qrow on his face and landing on her butt.

"Stop enjoying this and come help me." She scowled. Tai raised his hands in surrender, letting out a final laugh before moving to drag Qrow by the shoulders while Amber grabbed his feet. The two of them managed to drag him over to the couch, dropping him down with an exaggerated exhale of relief from Amber.

"Next time, we let Ruby do this part." She said, slightly annoyed and out of breath. Tai only laughed at her reaction.

"I don't know how she manages to deal with him. It's amazing how a teenager has more patience than you."

Amber scoffed. "Yeah, after said teenager decided to bail the second she could and leave me to take care of her master's drunk ass."

—————————

Ruby slept in the guest bedroom of Amber's house while Qrow slept on the couch. It was 8am. She had woken up to the smell of food and voices coming from downstairs and assumed Qrow was awake. She sat up and got out of bed, quickly putting on her shoes she discarded somewhere beside the bedframe and made her way downstairs. There she saw Qrow, still asleep in the same position he was in last night.

"Tch. Figures." She interjected, moving towards the kitchen instead where she saw Tai making breakfast and Amber writing in a notebook she'd used to record and log Grimm sightings and vent openings.

With Qrow still asleep on the couch, and Amber and Tai busy, Ruby had nothing better to do, so she decided to go out, letting the two know before she left.

She closed the door to Amber's house behind her and made her way to the sidewalk, heading back into the city again. She walked a couple of blocks before stopping when a flier on a street pole caught her eye.

**LOST DOG: ZWEI**  
**BLACK & WHITE WELSH CORGI**  
**LAST SEEN SUNDAY AFTERNOON**  
**CALL (123) 456-7890**

Ruby yanked the flier from the pole and read it over. Deciding it would pass some time, she shrugged and folded the paper, shoving it into her back pocket before running down the street and calling out the name written on the flier to look for the lost dog.

—————————

Chaotic would be the word Jaune Arc used to describe his life.

Of course, being the only guy living in the same house as six younger sisters could only result in chaos, Jaune never wondered why he was so fortunate to be surrounded by nothing but screaming siblings and guaranteed a whole bunch of headaches.

Mornings were usually the worst, Jaune always made a note to wake up at the earliest and leave the house as soon as possible before the havoc began in trying to get six kids to school.

Jaune closed the door behind him, making sure to lock it as he walked down the sidewalk where his two best friends, Nora and Ren were waiting for him as usual. The three always walked to school together, usually engaged in small talk, but today, Jaune wasn't listening. Something felt off to him, he wasn't sure what it was. He heard a voice, very faint but definite. It almost sounded like someone was looking for a—

"Jaune!" The voice startled him, he snapped out of his thoughts before realizing it was Nora who was yelling.

"Are you okay? You've been staring at that thing for a while now?" She said, pointing to the wall he was facing.

Jaune looked over to where her finger was directed at to see he had been staring at a flier for a lost dog. He didn't know why it felt coincidental to him, but it did.

"Come on, it's not like we can look for it right now anyways." She moved to pull Jaune by the arm, his focus still on the slightly crumpled paper stuck to the wall.

"Uh, yeah." He said, shaking his head slightly and turning back to follow the two, trying to engage in their current conversation.

"Right, so as I was saying," Nora continued. "It turns out Sun does have a crush on Ilia, but it's been like super obvious since the 8th grade."

Ren looked at her confused. "Isn't Ilia a lesbian?"

Nora nodded. "Exactly! What makes I even more funny is that I'm pretty sure she already has a crush on Coco, that fourth year who's on the track team."

Jaune snorted. "Nora, I'm pretty sure everyone in the entire school has a crush on Coco, lesbian or not."

"I just feel bad for Sun. I feel like he always hits on the wrong girls." Nora said, earning an eyeroll from Ren.

"He hits on every girl, and the ones that are actually into guys are the ones who don't even pay attention to him."

Nora laughed. "Crushes are weird." She then turned to Jaune, who was sorta half-listening to the conversation. "Do you have anyone you like, Jaune?"

The question caught him off-guard, not because of the question itself but the fact that he never really thought about the topic that much. He really wasn't the one to be into dating and such.

Jaune turned back to her. "No, I don't really think I have anyone I like—"

The air around him froze, something felt off again. The voice came back to him, the small very faint voice and the distant aura, he felt it again, only this time he knew who it was coming from.

It was the girl. The girl with the short dark red hair. The girl with the cool mysterious silver eyes. The girl he just passed.

_The girl who was staring right at him._

The moment broke however when she diverted her attention behind him.

"Zwei! There you are!" She shouted, before jumping over the railing and right into the street, he saw her following a dog. The same dog on the flier.

Then the sound of a horn brought him back to reality, and he realized the girl was about to get hit by a fucking truck.

"Hey, watch out!" He yelled as he jumped the railing, running over to the girl who didn't even notice him or the bus. He shoved her hard to the other side of the road, and fell in the middle of the street where the bus had stopped only inches away from him. Jaune ignored the attention he now got from people walking on the sidewalks and moved to face the silver-eyed girl.

"What were you thinking, running off into the street like that!? Do you realize you could've been _killed!?_" He shouted, ignoring the worried cries of Nora behind him. The girl only stared at him dumbfoundedly.

"You... you can see-"

_"JAUNE!!"_ Nora cried as she ran up to Jaune, throwing herself into him. "You almost got hit! You scared me half to death!"

Jaune averted his gaze from the silver eyed to the girl hugging him, she looked up at him with eyes full of worry, and he hugged her back and smiled for reassurance.

"I-I'm fine. I was just-" He turned to mention the fact that he just saved a girl from almost getting hit by a bus. Only there was no girl in front of him. He had only turned away for 5 seconds and she was nowhere to be seen as if she had never existed at all.

"Don't do that again, you dummy." A few moments they spent hugging before Ren came over, along with a few other bystanders helping them up and asking if Jaune was okay, which surprisingly, he was.

Once the situation had cleared out, the three stood there, processing what had just happened.

"I just want to know why in the world you would randomly throw yourself onto the street like that." Ren said, confusion with the slightest bit of worry in his tone.

"Yeah Jaune, that was reckless. Why'd you do that? You could've gotten seriously hurt."

Jaune looked at them in confusion. "But it was the girl. She's the one that jumped into the street. I was only trying to push her out of the way."

Nora and Ren looked at each other in the same confusion as Jaune.

"Jaune… there was no one else there. Are... are you sure you're okay?" Nora looked at him with a worrisome expression. Jaune paid no mind to it.

"I-I'm fine. But there was another girl there, I saw her! She was right there, right in front of me when you came up to me."

Ren shook his head. "Maybe we should take you to a doctor. You hit your head a little hard."

Jaune turned to Ren, almost offended. "Guys, I'm fine! The girl was _real_. She was_ there!"_

_"No, she wasn't, Jaune! There was no one there!"_

_"BOTH OF YOU, STOP!"_ Nora concluded, holding her hands up to stop any further argument, before holding her head in her hands with a quick motion. "Just please stop fighting!"

The two stopped and immediately turned to her, their concern now focused on her. Ren held out a hand to place on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Sorry Nora, we weren't thinking." Jaune said, as he turned to Ren who gave him a look confirming that they would continue their conversation at another time when Nora wasn't present.

"Can we just get to school?" Nora muttered, bringing her hands down from her head to hug herself.

Jaune sighed as he saw her movements. "Yeah, let's just go."

The three then began walking in silent, whatever their conversation was before the incident long gone and replaced with tense silence.

Jaune knew he saw the girl. He knew he wasn't going crazy. He was going to get to the bottom of whatever was going on. But first, he needed to find her, and that was the first thing he planned to do as soon as school was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note: Nora has PTSD. That's why she reacted.to Jaune and Ren's "argument" the way she did in this chapter. Just in case y'all were wondering.
> 
> As always, comments are appreciated!


	5. Connecting Ties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby runs into trouble, and finally meets the mysterious human boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! I just wanted to apologize for the delay! I'm currently ill, so I wasn't able to update as soon as I would've hoped. nonetheless, i hope you enjoy this chapter!

It was later that afternoon, the sun was barely about to set, leaving the sky a hazing orange. Ruby knew this meant the Fiendish Hour was approaching, and she'd certainly be faced with a plentiful number of Grimm, but she didn't have time to worry about Grimm now. 

_Why could that boy see me?_

Ruby couldn't get it. She replayed the scene in her mind over and over again. She was sure he wasn't another Far Shore being. He definitely belonged to the Near Shore.

_So why did he see me?_

"Zwei!!" She called out, momentarily breaking her thoughts as she continued her search for the dog.

Ruby remembered all the things Qrow had told her. All the things Weiss had told her. All the things she read and researched.

Only Near Shore beings with strong bonds to the Far Shore can see it's creatures, and that's usually restricted to only animals and young children. 

Was it possible that he just had a connection to the Far Shore?

"No, that can't be right." Ruby muttered, kicking the asphalt beneath her, her mind diverting to the incident that had occurred that morning. She didn't know how humans could be so stupid.

_I mean, its not like I was going to get hit or anything. I'm already dead._

Ruby snickered at her own lame joke, trying to figure out why, just why that human boy could see her, there, out of all people.

Her head suddenly shot up as she heard a noise coming from around the corner of the alleyway. Turning to realize that it was the dog, that damn dog, sitting there smiling up at her, as if it were mocking her.

"Tsk." Ruby huffed in annoyance, moving to pick the dog up from off the ground, staring at it once she had it secure in her grasp.

"Do you know how much trouble you caused me?" She asked the dog, only receiving a confused head tilt in response. She rolled her eyes, but not before hearing a loud threatening growl from behind her.

Ruby cursed herself, turning around to see a pack of Beowolves staring dead at her, backing her further into the dead end of the alleyway.

"You provoked them, didn't you?" She asked the dog, not really expecting an answer. Zwei whined in return.

The Beowolves charged at her, and in one swift motion Ruby jumped, flipping onto the roof of the building behind her. From there she sprinted across the roofs of buildings and houses, holding Zwei secure in her grasp, trying to create as many borderlines as she could.

She wasn't going to fight them, no, that wasn't her intention. Her borderlines could only hold for so long and she couldn't really do anything without Qrow.

_Dammit Qrow._

She had jumped down onto the ground and moved in the opposite direction of the city. She had to lure them away from it.

Ruby turned to look over her shoulder, choosing the wrong time to do so as she clumsily tripped on the uneven asphalt, falling head first. Her knees and elbows hit the ground, breaking her fall and preventing the dog from falling as well.

She huffed in pain, cursing herself for wearing shorts that day. She stumbled to stand, pain bubbling in her legs but she ignored it.

Then, she heard a large growl from behind, didn't have enough time to react when she suddenly felt a grip on her wrist and was pulled forward just in time before the Beowolf collided into the ground.

Momentarily ignoring the Grimm behind her, Ruby focused her attention to whatever or whoever was pulling her forward.

All it took was the blonde hair and blue eyes to immediately know who was in front of her.

"You!? What are you doing!?"

The blonde haired boy from earlier. The one that pushed her in the middle of the street. He wore a panicked expression on his face, a mix between confusion and fright. He struggled to get out a response.

"I had some... questions for you." He wheezed, trying to maintain his voice. "I tried to... look for you after school, but then i saw... that those things chasing you!"

Ruby's eyes wided, she didn't know if she had heard him right.

_He can see the Grimm too!?_

"Are you crazy!? Those things could kill you!" Ruby exclaimed, the throbbing pain in her legs getting much more intense but she tried to ignore it.

"And they... almost killed you..." He said as they entered a wooded area, the Grimm still on their tails.

He had a point. The first time she'd met him he'd apparently tried to save her for no reason at all. But now he had actually saved her from something that could actually kill her. She needed to thank him once these Beowolves were taken care of.

The two kept running, through trees and out into an open clearing, when suddenly the boy stopped, and Ruby ran straight into his back, stumbling back but catching herself before she fell.

"You idiot! Why'd you stop!?" She huffed, swipping at her bruised and scraped knees.

The boy looked forward at a figure standing in the distance. "There's someone watching us."

Ruby followed his gaze, eyes widening in both shock and relief when her sight landed on the figure.

_That's-_

"QROW!"

She ran forward, placing the dog in the boy's arms which he accepted without protest. The figure turned towards her, confirming it was the man she thought he was. He looked tired, but nonetheless he held his hand out in Ruby's direction, changing her transformation.

_"Come, Aki."_

Ruby lifted her arms out once the words were spoken, as if awaiting the bright light that immersed her, transforming her into the scythe that Qrow now wielded in his hands.

Once in her weapon form, Ruby chuckled.

"Took you long enough huh?"

Qrow didn't reply, instead focusing his concentration and energy on the Beowolves in front of him.

In one swift motion, he raised his weapon and lunged forward, the tip of the blade swiped at the Grimm.

He decapitated one, watching it as it dissipated before puncturing another. Landing hits were easy, no surprise, but the amount of force and effort it took just to inflict damage was more than usual. Normally it wouldn't be this hard fighting a simple pack of Grimm but the blade of his scythe seemed a little dull.

Nonetheless he managed to finish off the last of the Grimm, landing with years of skill and experience. He then turned to the boy staring at him and raised an eyebrow.

What's with this kid?

"Hello? Forget something?"

The voice snapped him out of his thoughts, turning back to face his scythe and better examine the blade that seemed to be duller than usual.

"What's up? You seemed a little off back there?" He asked Ruby, ignoring the boy for a second.

"Blame the damn dog." She huffed, and Qrow reverted her. In a bright light she transformed from scythe back to her human form. It was then that Qrow noticed Ruby's skinned and scraped knees, and thin lines of blood trailing down her legs.

"Oh," Qrow mumbled, watching as Ruby tried to wipe at the blood only for her to wince when she grazed the scrapes.

"Better than being eaten alive I guess." She joked, before stopping dead in her tracks and turning back to the blonde boy, still holding the dog and eyeing both her and Qrow in shock.

"So you're still here."

Qrow cleared his throat, giving Ruby a confused look. "Friend of yours?"

Ruby huffed, before her legs gave out and she landed on the ground, rolling her eyes.

"You're human, right?" She asked bluntly, ignoring Qrow and staring the blonde dead in the eye. She watched him nod with hesitation.

"Then why can you see us? We're dead. You aren't supposed to see us."

The boy shrugged. "I just can. Recently it's been happening a lot more lately. My friends think I'm crazy."

Qrow interjected, "It's not strange for a human to have close ties to the Far Shore. Certain people, and even families are known to have the ability to see us, but there aren't that many. You seem to be one of them."

The boy stared at him in slight disbelief, narrowing his eyes as if he was skeptical of what he was hearing.

"You don't hear that everyday," Ruby snorted, studying the blobs of red on her legs.

The boy then turned to Ruby with an expression of realization.

"That's why my friends never saw you! That's why you disappeared so fast!" It all made sense.

"Finally starting to get it? We, my good friend, aren't human." She said with an unreadable attitude.

"So then, what are you?"

Ruby turned to Qrow, who only stared at her back, expecting her to answer instead of him. Ruby rolled her eyes and sighed heavily before dramatically turning her head to face the blonde.

"I'm what's called a shinki. Or basically a sacred treasure. We're spirits of dead humans who get chosen by gods to serve and protect them." She pointed to Qrow. "This is Qrow, the God of Misfortune."

The boy looked between them in awe. "I mean, we always prayed to the gods but—I never actually knew they had physical forms."

"I'm sure there's a lot of things they don't teach about us. I should know." Ruby chuckled.

The boy chuckled in response. "Although to be honest, I've never heard of a god named Qrow before."

Qrow scoffed, wearing a slight weary expression. "Who can blame you? Not many people pray for misfortune."

Ruby dismissed his comment, turning to the boy instead and holding out her hand.

"Anyways, we haven't been formally introduced. I'm Qrow's shinki, Ruby."

The boy nodded, taking her hand.

"Jaune Arc."

Ruby grinned, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you Jaune. Something tells me we're going to be seeing more of each other in the future."

"Heh, well, it doesn't seem like I have a choice." Jaune said, retreating his hand.

Qrow cleared his throat, "Sorry to interrupt your greeting, but we need to get going." He turned to face Ruby, who glared at him. He ignored her glare, and began to walk back towards the city.

"Fine." Ruby sighed, not bothering to rush back so soon. She turned back to Jaune, and painted a smile on her face.

"We should get to know each other sometime."

Jaune smiled in agreement.

"I'd like that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as I've stated above, i'm currently ill, so the next chapter might not be updated for a while. but hopefully it won't be too long of a wait.
> 
> as always, comments & feedback are appreciated!


	6. Fast Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow gets drunk. Ruby gets bored. Ruby meets Jaune's friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOA OKAY  
so first of all I wanted to apologize for not updating in like what...3 months?? yeah it's been a while.  
so a little update: classes got canceled for the rest of the semester, so that means (hopefully) I'll have more time to write. granted I still have online classes but it still gives me way more free time than before, so yay!
> 
> second of all, this chapter really brought out my writer's block. I had no idea how to start this chapter and kept having to rewrite it like several times over so hopefully it sounds good. 
> 
> third, I realized I made Ruby seem a bit ooc, but I've decided to roll with it. so in this fic, Ruby acts like brat and makes a bunch of morbid jokes. so that's that :)
> 
> anyways I'm being annoying so enjoy the chapter!

The walk back home to the apartment was longer than expected, considering they were a pretty long way away from the city.

Ruby was relieved to be home, the scrapes on her knees still throbbed and Qrow ordered her to wait in the kitchen while he got the first aid kit (it was more like a stash of band-aids in a cardboard box) from the bathroom.

He emerged from the bathroom minutes later, carrying said box and scolded her for picking at the scabs that began to form.

"It doesn't even hurt." She claimed, even though she winced when he began to clean the scrapes with a washcloth.

Minutes were spent with Qrow cleaning the scrapes, working with years of experience of tending to wounds from what Ruby could assume.

"You know, you need to be more careful." He said, words carrying genuine caution. "Can't have my shinki injured when there's Grimm to be taken care of." He added, wrapping Ruby's knees once they had been cleaned.

Ruby snorted. "You're not my dad."

"No, but I might as well be." Qrow countered, causing Ruby to shut her mouth, leaving whatever response she was going to say next unspoken.

"Sorry. Old habits." Qrow apologized, noticed Ruby's uncomfortable expression. 

"Yeah," Ruby sighed, then stood, marching straight to her room and closing the door behind her, leaving Qrow in the kitchen with the box of medical equipment.

He looked at the door, staring at if as if it was going to open, but it didn't. Qrow shook his head, abandoning the box on the kitchen counter and grabbed his flask from the counter, heading into his own room.

—————————

"He's a boy, not an alien."

"Only you would managed to get yourself mixed up in the Near Shore."

Ruby snickered at Weiss's remark, shifting the scroll in her hands as she sat up on her bed.

"I'm serious, Ruby. What if this gets you in some sort of trouble? You know we aren't supposed to meddle with Near Shore." Weiss's voice held just as much concern as it did annoyance.

"It's not meddling."

"He literally saw you kill a grimm."

Ruby groaned into the phone, fully aware of how annoyed that would make Weiss.

"You and I both know this isn't going to end well." Weiss's voice broke through.

Ruby placed a hand over her forehead, closing her eyes for a quick second. "Nothing ever ends well for me and you know it."

"Which is exactly why you shouldn't meddle." Weiss huffed.

"You're no fun." Ruby murmured like a child.

"No, but I'm smart." Weiss retorted, causing Ruby to roll her eyes immaturely. "It's getting late, get some sleep you dolt."

Ruby smiled at the nickname, letting out a childish giggle. "Good night to you too, ice queen!"

Weiss scoffed. "If you call me that again, I swear I'll-"

"Good night!" Ruby yelled and quickly hung up before Weiss could finish. She placed her scroll on the table next to her bed, smile never faltering from her face.

Ruby had forgotten to close her blinds, but the moonlight shining into her room was pretty, so she left it and shut off her lamp, filling her room with blue as she drifted off to sleep.

—————————

The next morning Ruby found Qrow dead asleep on the couch (not surprising), arm hanging off the edge with a bottle of vodka in his hand. Ruby only groaned in frustration, yanking the alcohol from his hand and slamming it on the kitchen table, too bothered to even close the cap properly.

"I swear, this house would fall apart without me." She muttered as she grabbed her coat and her keys from the rack, shutting the door behind her with a loud slam. Some woman yelled at her from down the hall. Ruby just flipped her off and headed towards the stairwell.

Ruby followed the sidewalk all the way to the city, pulling her hood up in attempt to seem invisible.

_Not like they can see me anyways._

Ruby huffed, as she climbed a fence and managed to make her way onto the roof of a small flower shop, plopping herself down onto the concrete and hanging her head off of the edge.

_Maybe the blood pooling in my head will make me pass out._ Ruby thought, and snickered at her own morbid joke.

She was clearly bored out of her mind. Not like she was used to it. Without Qrow being sober enough to do anything, fighting Grimm was definitely out of the agenda, and she felt like she was being too annoying on Amber to invite herself over at her place.

Ruby only sighed, counting the number of people or cars that passed by, waiting for hours until Qrow became sober enough to do shit.

Until something... no wait — someone — caught her eye.

There, walking right below her was a certain blue eyed blonde boy, talking to two others beside him.

Ruby smirked as she kept her gaze on him, head still hanging off the edge of the roof.

_Gotcha._

Jumping down with ease, Ruby balanced herself on the string of a sign hung above the street. She hooked her knees and hung upside down right in front in Jaune.

She grinned, pointing to the boy in front of her.

"Found you."

"I.. uh.." Jaune looked like he was staring at a ghost (he kinda was?). The other two were staring at her two, then at Jaune, and back to her.

"Jaune? Who is she?"

"Oh now you can see her!?"

Ruby stuck out her hand to the short redheaded girl on Jaune's left, smiling brightly. "The name's Ruby."

"Uh.. hi?" The redhead stood confused, she raised an eyebrow as she glanced at the outstretched hand in front of her, taking it slowly and cautiously as she looked back to Ruby, then leaned towards Jaune. "Who is she?"

"So what, are these your friends or something?" Ruby asked, yanking her hand from the redhead and turned back to Jaune, still hanging upside down.

"Can you get down please?" Jaune asked, clearly anxious and confused. He kept glancing between her and the two beside them.

"You're no fun." Ruby scoffed and rolled her eyes, but complied anyways, flipping off and landing on the ground impressively.

A few seconds of awkward silence passed, and Ruby could tell the three were clearly uncomfortable. The silence made her remember what Weiss said about meddling in the Near Shore, but like most of her advice, it went through one ear and out the other. She just rolled her eyes, and poked Jaune between the eyes.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" She said, a bit annoyed and clearly tired of waiting.

"I guess I don't have a choice do I?"

"Nope."

"Alright fine. Ruby, this is Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie." He said, slouching with a defeated expression. "Guys, this is Ruby, I met her yesterday.

Ruby shrugged. "More like he jumped in front of a bus and pushed me out of the street, but yeah sure, we 'met' yesterday."

"What?" They both asked at the same time, turning directly to her. That definitely got their attention.

Nora turned to Jaune, "Wait, don't tell me all that yapping about that girl was..."

"Oh that was definitely me." Ruby admitted, noticing the shocked faces on Ren and Nora's faces when she said so. She giggled. "You guys look like you've a ghost."

"Because they did." Jaune huffed, putting his hand to his forehead. "Can we just get to school? You can explain to them when we're done."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "You guys are going to school? Boring."

The truth was, Ruby really liked school. When she was alive, it was basically her only escape from a shitty home environment, but she wasn't about to go admitted that to Jaune and his friends.

"Yes, school. We're leaving now. Bye Ruby." Jaune said, annoyed as her dragged his friends with him, Nora looking back one more time to get a glimpse at Ruby.

"I'll be waiting!" Ruby cheered after them, waving with a smile on her face.

She brought her hand back down and checked the time on her phone.

8:22...it was going to be awhile until Jaune and his friends got out of school.

"Maybe I should just sneak into Winter's mansion and hang out with Weiss for a bit." Ruby pondered, watching the three turn the corner of the sidewalk and disappear from view.

Ruby shrugged, and heading off in the direction of the Schnee Manor. Weiss was definitely going to scold her later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and feedback are appreciated!
> 
> -linda <3


	7. The Past and the Passing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby and Weiss hang out. Jaune, Nora and Ren finally learn about the Far Shore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! here's a longer chapter! it's kinda rushed since I wrote this at like 1am so sorry in advance if there are any mistakes!
> 
> i was actually excited to write this chapter! so hopefully it looks good!
> 
> enjoy the chapter!

Breaking into the Schnee Manor in Takamagahara unnoticed was something Ruby had become flawless at doing the more she did it. Today was no exception.

She managed to scale three stories with ease as she squeezed her way through the slightly open window left for her. It was the only window in the mansion left open, and Ruby obviously knew who it belonged to.

She landed on the marbled floor with a thud, almost knocking over the polished bookshelf that stood next to the window.

She looked up to see none other than Weiss in all her glory, scowling at her with crossed arms. Exactly how she imagined she'd be.

"Can you try to be the slightest bit careful next time you do that?" She said, glooming down at her. "What it was someone else in here?"

Ruby, still collapsed on the floor, simply waved her hand in a dismissive manor and chuckled.

"Weiss you worry too much. I'm always careful. If I wasn't, Winter would've shot me ages ago." She laughed, stretching her hand out for Weiss to help her up.

Weiss scoffed and rolled her eyes, ignoring her pleads for help, but eventually gave in and grabbed her hand, pulling the silver-eyed girl to her feet.

"I honestly don't know how she hasn't."

Ruby grinned. "Because I'm careful."

"You're reckless," Weiss corrected, but the scowl on her face faltered into a small smile. "But you've managed to stay alive somehow so I'll give you that."

Ruby's eyes lit up in victory, moving to throw herself face first onto Weiss's bed. 

"I would kill to sleep on a mattress like this." She said, muffled by the once neaty folded blankets that were now messy. Ruby's eyes lit up once again, and she turned to Weiss.

Ruby held up a finger. "I have a question."

"No, we can not have a sleepover."

"I have no more questions."

Weiss, although annoyed, threw a pillow at Ruby's head and started laughing, her cold demeanor now fading away.

Ruby stopped laughing for a second to look at Weiss, grinning. "Guess the ice queen's starting to lighten up."

Another pillow got thrown in her face. Ruby brushed the hair from her face to give Weiss a convincing pout.

"Next time it's a book." She said, the scowl returning to her face.

A few seconds later, the room burst into laughter once more, Ruby weakly throwing the pillow back to Weiss, who threw it back with more effort.

She took a seat next to Ruby on the bed, wiping the tears from her eyes as she threw herself back onto the bed. The two stared up at the ceiling in silence.

It was Ruby who broke the silence (she always did).

"I ran into Jaune and his friends this morning. They are pretty weird."

Weiss sprung up, her once calm expression disappearing. "You what?"

"What?" Ruby held her hands up defensively. "It's not like I talked to them." She then dropped her hands and turned her gaze back to the ceiling. "Oh wait, I did."

Weiss fell back onto the bed and groaned in frustration. "Did last night's conversation mean nothing to you?"

Ruby giggled. "We both know whatever you tell me goes through one ear and out the other. Besides, you should've seen their faces! It was pretty hilarious."

"Keep it down!" Weiss scolded. "And I told you not to meddle!"

"It's not meddling!" Ruby retorted. "And I kinda already sorta revealed to them that I'm a ghost and told them I would 'explain' everything this afternoon, so it's kinda already too late to 'unmeddle.' Is that a word? 'Unmeddle'?" 

Weiss sighed. "You have the attention span of a concussed hummingbird."

"Thanks?"

"That wasn't a compliment, you dolt. And stop calling yourself a ghost."

Ruby sat up on the bed, hugging the pillow she held. "Well, it doesn't change the fact that I'm still going to tell them everything."

"A terrible decision, really."

Ruby grinned. "You should come with me!"

Weiss reached over and slapped a hand over her face, shoving her back. "Keep me out of your recklessless, please."

"You're no fun." Ruby murmured, crossing her arms and childishly pursing her lips out.

A sudden knock on the door broke the silence, causing Weiss to jump and shove Ruby under her bed.

Weiss opened the door cautiously, making sure to stand in front of the bed.

She grimiced at the sight of who was at her door, but she plastered on a smile anyways. 

"Whitley, what do you want?"

Whitley stared at her unimpressed, obviously not falling for the fake smile, but spoke anyways.

"Lady Winter would like to have a word with you. She sent me to retrieve you."

Weiss grew frustrated, but managed to keep her calm. "Of course. Give me a quick second."

She slammed the door on him, then kneeled down to reach under the bed.

"I'll be back. Don't go anywhere. You better be right here when I come back." She said in a hushed but stern whisper, not leaving any from for protest from Ruby. She stood up before she could say anything and walked back to the door.

"Alright. I'm ready."

Hiding under Weiss's queen-sized bed was the last place Ruby wanted to spend the rest of her morning.

I came to escape boredom, not get shoved into it. Literally.

Ruby sighed as she dropped her head into her arms, silently cursing when her head hit the bottom of the bed.

The obvious solution would probably be to just leave through the window as quickly and quietly as possibly, but she wasn't about to get Weiss even more pissed that possible.

So she stayed. Staring at her fingers, taking out her phone and rereading old messages to pass the time. Eventually Ruby fell asleep, phone falling on her face.

She slept for what seemed like a while until she was suddenly awoken by someone dragging her out from under the bed.

She bumped her head on the bottom of the bedframe again, staring up at a very annoyed Weiss.

"Did you seriously fall asleep!?"

Ruby put her hands up defensively. "I was bored! You were gone for a long time!"

"10 minutes." Weiss said flatly. "I was gone for 10 minutes."

Ruby tilted her head. "Oh. You win I guess."

Weiss groaned and slammed her hand into her face. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Aw, lighten up, ice queen. I'm not that bad!"

"Ruby, if you call me that one more time, I will personally feed you to the Grimm myself."

Ruby frowned. "Violent."

Ruby laughed anyways, and soon after, Weiss laughed too. Despite her recklessness, and her ability to get into trouble, Ruby was still Weiss's best friend, and vise versa. They didn't care about each other's status, nor the dumb rivalry war between the gods they served.

And despite the fact that Weiss was clearly against Ruby's meddling in the Near Shore, she wouldn't try to stop her. If that's what she wanted to do, that's what she'll do.

"Hey Ruby?" Weiss asked, the both of them laying upside down on Weiss's bed, heads hanging off the edge.

"Yeah, Weiss?"

"Aren't you going to talk to Jaune's friends, or what?"

Ruby smirked, looking over to see Weiss grinning at her.

"Weiss, you know me so well."

Jaune was walking home from school with Nora and Ren, the three of them planning to hang out at Nora's house for a while.

The school day was awkward enough for the three of them, but the walk home was even more awkward.

The conversation that morning with Ruby felt like a fever dream to Jaune. Heck, her entire existence felt like a fever dream itself.

"I'm still confused over what happened this morning." Nora said, breaking the silence between them.

"You and me both." Jaune muttered. "This whole thing feels weird."

"Hey, uh, Jaune?" Ren asked from behind, Ren and Nora stopped walking and turned to face him.

"Sorry about not believing you the other day. With the accident."

"Yeah, me too." Nora added, placing her hand on Ren's shoulder. "Granted, I'm still not sure if I entirely believe it still, but we should've listened to you."

Jaune shook his head. "It's fine. I'm not sure if I believe either." He laughed. "Trust me, if I told you what happened last night, it would sound even crazier."

"Oh come on, it's not that weird."

The three of the jumped and screamed in surprise at the voice. Jaune slowly turned around to be faced with a smiling Ruby.

"Please don't do that." Jaune said, causing Ruby to roll her eyes and wave him off dismissively, moving next to him to elbow him lightly.

"Aw, come on. I thought it was funny." She looked over to Ren and Nora who were staring at her. "Oh, you guys are here too, I guess."

The two gave her a confused look. before turning to each other. Ren shrugged and kept walking. Nora did the same.

Finally, after what seemed like a longer walk, the four arrived at Nora's place. It was a small one story suburban house with porch and a small garden in the front.

Nora opened the mailbox and grabbed the stack of envelopes, closing it and flipping through them, disappointed that there was nothing for her. She took out her keys and the threw followed her inside.

Ruby stopped to admire the little garden outside the house, grinning when she saw the patch of red roses. She was going to pick one when she felt a hand grab her arm and tug her away. Jaune gave her a questionable look and Ruby shrugged.

"They were pretty." She said defensely, causing Jaune to shake his head at her.

"You don't just go around and pick other people's flowers, Ruby." Jaune sighed. Strangely enough, his expression and tone almost mimicked that of Weiss, and she realized she would've said the exact same thing if she were here.

"Fine, fine, I'm going inside." Ruby walked past Jaune and followed Ren into the house, noticing it's quietness and simplicity. The house was tiny, walls were left unpainted and pictures littered the walls.

She stopped admiring to see Nora throw the stack of mail she had on the kitchen counter along with her keys, and she then opened a door to a room that Ruby assumed was her own. Ren and Jaune followed, and then Ruby followed too.

The three set down their backpacks and Nora went over to her desk, switching on her radio to a random station but keeping the volume relatively low. She then crashed back onto her bed and let out a relaxed sigh. Ren took a seat on the edge of Nora's bed while Jaune sat in the desk chair.

Ruby, feeling awkward, opted to taking a seat on the floor. She was at least glad that Nora had carpet in her room and not cold tile like Weiss. 

"So," Nora started, pointing a finger in Ruby's direction. "Who exactly are you?"

Ruby frowned. "I'm pretty sure you already know what my name is."

Jaune sighed. "Ruby, that's not what she meant."

"Yeah, I mean like, what are you? Why couldn't we see you before? Why are you acting so weird? What did you want to explain to us? Why did you-"

Ren poked her leg. "Nora, I think that's enough questions."

Ruby tilted her head and raised her eyebrow in confusion. She then turned to Jaune, who only sighed and shook his head. "Just tell them everything."

"Everything?" She asked and Jaune nodded. She turned back to Nora and Ren, who were staring at her expectantly. "Right, everything."

"So who..._what_ are you?" Ren asked.

Ruby cleaned her throat, and clapped her hands together.

"My name is given name is Ruby. My human name used to be Ruby Rose, named by my mother."

Now it was Nora's time to be confused. "What do you mean 'used to'?"

Ruby grinned. "I'm not human. I am instead the spirit of my former self. My human life ended, and only my spirit has remained. I was saved by a God, and now I am destined to serve him and protect him with my abilities."

Ren looked shocked, staring frozen right at Ruby as if he had actually seen a ghost. Jaune, despite hearing it for the second time, was still surprised by the fact. Nora however, was the only one who didn't seemed phased by it.

"So you're basically dead right?"

"Nora!" Jaune said. 

Nora shrugged. "What? I was just asking."

Ruby stared at Nora before looking down at her clasped hands. "I guess, yeah sure, technically speaking?" She looked back up. "I just kinda wanted it to sound more...I don't know...enthralling? But yeah, sure! I'm dead!" Ruby said sarcastically.

"That's crazy." Nora said, amazed while she flipped over onto her stomach, facing Ruby with her hea. held up with her hands. "Tell us more."

Jaune sighed while Ren still stared at her, slightly in shock. Ruby continued as she shrugged and decided to just focus on Nora.

"Right, so I'm dead, and after I died, I was a floating little spec. That's what usually happens after you die, you turn into a spec and are left to wander the world until you're either found by the gods or the Grimm."

"What are the Grimm?" Ren asked, now less shocked that before.

"Grimm are trouble." Ruby said flatly. "They're physical manifestations of the megative emotions that humans and sometimes spirits give off. They're monsters who roam throughout the world. They're unnoticeable to the human eye, but under certain circumstances they can be noticed. The only ones who can see the Grimm are gods, shinki, young children, animals and apparently special humans with a connection to the Far Shore. That last one is new too me."

"So, like me?" Jaune asked, pointing at himself. "I can see the Grimm because I have a connection to the...Far Shore?"

Ruby nodded. "I guess so? I'd need to ask Qrow about it more, but yeah."

"Whoa, Jaune, you can see Grimm?" Nora asked, clearly astonished.

Jaune nodded. "Apparently."

"Anyways, back to me." Ruby continued and the three turned their direction back to her. "So I was a spec, until I was found by the gods. Well, I mean one god in particular. You see, the gods of the Far Shore find spirits who are usually the souls of past humans, and turn us into what is called a shinki. Shinkis are the servants to the gods. We are given a human name and special abilities in return for complete dedication, protection and loyalty to the god who named us."

"So who's your god?" Ren asked.

Ruby smiled. "His name is Qrow. The God of Misfortune. He's not well-known, I wouldn't expect anyone to know him or anything."

"Wait. God of Misfortune?" Nora asked. "Isn't that like, bad luck or something?"

Ruby sighed. "Technically yes, but to me, it's honestly not a big deal. Yes, misfortune is bad, and yes, my god is basically a bad luck charm and brings chaos wherever he goes." 

Jaune winced at Ruby's explanation.

"But Qrow isn't just that." She continued He's a god of justice. A god who protects humanity and fights off whatever dark forces linger in the shadows." Ruby looked down and bit her lip. "Some people just can't see that." She muttered that last part.

Ruby looked back up. "Anyways, I'm getting off-topic. So Qrow, God of Misfortune, found me in an alleyway after I died in a car crash six months ago. Usually, when gods name a shinki, they choose a new name because of the fact that they aren't supposed to know their past human life once they die. I was given my human name because I apparently remember my human life. It's apparently something rare that happens? I'm not sure. All I know is that it's a thing called the 'God's Greatest Secret', and I'm apparently immune to it."

Jaune spoke this time. "So shinki aren't supposed to remember their past life?"

Ruby nodded. "It's why gods give them a different name. Revealing their real human name would corrupt them, and I'm pretty sure that's a bad thing." She shook her head. "Moving on, once shinki are named, they're given a human appearance, and their name is marked somewhere on their skin."

Ruby rolled up her own sleeve on her left shoulder to show the kanji **_ルビー _**written in small red-like ink. (Or at least Nora thought it was ink).

"So like a permanent tattoo of your name. That's cool." Nora said, admiring the mark.

"It's not just the tattoo." Ruby smiled. continuing. "Shinki are also given special abilities, a forcefield known as a borderline." Ruby then grinned. "We also have the ability to turn into weapons."

"Well that explains the scythe yesterday."

"You can turn into a scythe!? That's so cool!" Nora practically yelled, jumping off the bed and sitting next to Ruby. "What else can you do!?"

Ruby shrugged. "That's it. Just the forcefield and the weapon."

Nora pouted. "Aw, bummer."

Ruby laughed, and Nora placed her arm around her shoulders. "You gotta show me that weapon thing though!"

"Nora, please."

"Come on, Ren! She's literally the coolest person...er...dead person we've ever met!"

Ren shook his head. "And are you sure she isn't...I don't know...lying?"

Ruby placed her hand on her chest and pretended to be offended. "It hurts that you doubt me."

Nora stood up and grabbed him by the shoulders, nose pressing against nose. "If she shows us the weapon thing, then will you be convinced?"

Ren stared at her. "If she turns into a scythe, I promise I will listen to whatever crazy conspiracies you tell me."

Ruby looked over to the two, grinning. "Trust me Ren, everything I just told you is very much real."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and feedback are appreciated!
> 
> -linda <3


	8. Twin Birds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow visits the place where he came to life. It turns out he wasn't the only one to do so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEYOO im back it's been a hot minute hasn't it???  
sorry about the wait!! i had a bad case of writers block and only managed to get half of this chapter written, and i finally sat down and managed to force myself to finish so sorry if it seems a bit rushed! i was actually rewatching noragami which someone managed to give me some motivation to finish this chapter haha
> 
> anyways im being annoying so i'll shut up now :)

"OH MY GOD, SHE REALLY CAN TURN INTO A SCYTHE!"

Nora's yells could be heard throughout the forest clearing where she, Jaune, Ren stood along with Qrow and a transformed Ruby in front of them. Ren was in shocked and Jaune only shook his head and dug his palm into his face.

"And why am I doing this again?" Qrow huffed, unimpressively holding Ruby in scythe form as the three teens stood in front, Nora being the only one bouncing up and down with glimmers in her eyes.

Ruby grinned. "Consider this your punishment for drinking yesterday morning."

Qrow sighed. "Oh boy."

"This is officially the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Nora yelled, her eyes wide with amusement and interest. She made grabby hands towards the scythe. "Can I hold it? Can I? Can I? Can I?!"

Qrow yanked the scythe away before Nora could get close to it. "Absolutely not." He said. "Ruby is a dangerous weapon only meant for me to wield in the face of darkness."

"Okay, fine." Nora retreated her hands and pouted, crossing her arms and stepping back next to Ren.

Ruby giggled, causing an almost offended look from Qrow as she laughed. 

"Okay, sure. Now you choose act responsible." She said, noticing his offended expression morph into a blank one.

Suddenly, he threw the scythe towards a nearby tree, it's blade catching onto the branch. 

Both Jaune and Ren along with Nora stood in silence as they saw the scythe handing from the branch, confusing.

"He's not gonna..."

"Revert, Ruby."

"He is."

Suddenly, bright light shown, illuminating the forest clearing before the shape of the scythe took form into human Ruby, and once the light faded, there she was, hanging from the branch of the tree.

The three teens laughed while Qrow let out a snicker of his own before Ruby groaned and kicked her feet towards the trunk of the tree.

"Haha, very funny." She said sarcastically.

She let go on the branch and attempted to land on her feet, however the vertigo from the transformation was still occurring and she tumbled onto her butt with an unattractive thud. This sent the others laughing harder as she blew her bangs out of her face and brushed the leaves off her legs, careful to brush her injured knees.

Jaune eventually came to her aid as he held on a hand for her which she graciously took before moving to better swipe herself clean from dirt.

"That was uncalled for!" She said, pointing a finger at Qrow who had his arms crossed and a grin on his face.

Qrow shrugged. "You had it coming."

Ruby let out a small laugh, completely unaware of Nora running straight towards her with speed. Suddenly, she felt the force from her side and was tackled to the ground.

"Ha!" Nora said, eyes gleaming at the girl below her. "That was amazing!! Oh I need to see you in action sometime!!"

"Nora, please get off her..." Ren said with a sigh, running to where the two lay on the ground, with Jaune following behind.

"I mean, if I were to turn into a weapon..." Nora pondered, ignoring Ren's request. "...it would have to be a giant hammer! One that can turn into a grenade launcher! Now that would be amazing!"

"That's...specific." Qrow questioned as he raised a brow at the quirky redhead still on top of Ruby, the latter smiling regardless at Nora's response.

"I would've preferred to be a sniper rifle, but I guess scythes are cool too." Ruby said, ignoring the look of offense Qrow gave her. Ruby grinned and stuck her tongue out at him.

Ren finally managed to pull Nora off of Ruby, but the shinki remained laying on the ground, crossing her arms. Nora ended up prying herself from Ren's grasp and moved to lay on the grass next to Ruby.

"Being a shinki seems so cool! I can't wait to be one." Nora said, curiously.

Ruby frowned at that statement.

Memories began flooding back to her. Awful memories. The agonizing walk home, crossing the street, the painful car crash, the last moments of her life spent in a crowded uncomfortable ambulance.

And then breathing again. Dressed in white robes, in the middle of an alleyway, Qrow in front of her. Confused, but breathing again.

She never asked for this life, as interesting and intense and wild as it was, she never asked for it. She never asked to die, and to suddenly come back again like she had a second chance.

She realized she didn't want the same for Nora.

Ruby resisted the urge to cry, smiling away at the painful memories and reaching out to grab Nora's hand. Sometime in the middle of her pondering, Jaune and Ren moved to lay next to Nora and Ruby as well. Ruby let out a small chuckle, blinking to keep the tears at bay.

"Trust me," she said, squeezing the redhead's hand. "It's a lot less glamourous than you think."

—————————

Qrow watched as the redhead (who he leared was Nora) dragged Ruby towards the city with Jaune and his other friend with the long black hair (he learned he was Ren). Nora had her arm slung over Ruby's shoulders, dragging her all over the sidewalk with an enthusiasm so big that he'd never seen before. It was kind of cute, actually.

Qrow knew it was dangerous to be left without a shinki, but it was hardly nearing the Fiendish Hour, and there current weren't any jobs seeking Grimm eradication. At least not for him.

So he agreed when Nora asked if they could take Ruby with them for the afternoon. He knew his shinki was responsible and could handle herself if the situation called for it.

As soon as the four teenagers turned the corner and out of sight, Qrow turned on his heel and began walking in the opposite direction. Ignoring passerbys and other people, he kept his gaze low. It didn't really matter anyways, he was basically invisible to the human eye, nonexistent in the minds of the Near Shore. 

He kept walking until he reached the west end of the city, near a small park. But he didn't enter the park. Instead he walked around it, past the gated greenery and right behind where a small creek ran. He walked over the bridge and directly towards a weathered but sturdy water well.

He hadn't visited this well in ages.

He leaned over the stone edge, crossing his arms on the rocky surface and staring down to the depths of the pit. It was nearly empty, water rarely flowed through it nowadays.

Qrow sighed and rubbed his forehead where a headache was definitely forming. He couldn't tell if it was from stress or the hangover, but regardless he was tired. He knew if Ruby were here, he'd tell him to go home and get some rest, and that's probably what he should be doing. But he wasn't known for being the most logical, compared to his history of rather sensible shinki. So he ignored logic and sense, and despite his better judgment, pulled out his flask and brought it to his lips.

"You know, it's pretty distasteful for a God to be partaking in such bad habits."

Qrow froze. The flask dropped to the ground, thankfully not falling into the open well.

_But that voice._

"Well, in any matter, it is a nice surprise to see you here," the voice spoke again.

Qrow clenched his now empty hand into a fist as he felt the fury rise inside of him.

"Tell me, what brings you here..."

_Brother._

Qrow snapped at the word.

"Come, Aki!"

He shouted, moving to retrieve his shinki. Only there was nothing. Because his shinki wasn't here. His shinki was off with her friends. Not here.

Qrow froze again at the silence that followed. He put his arm down in a pathetic manner of embarrassment. Instead, he turned to stare directly at the figure with red angry eyes.

"Raven."

The woman sneered, and let out a small snicker as his failed attempt to call a shinki.

"Aki? What happened to your other shinki, Ginki?" Raven asked, curiosity behind her words.

Qrow didn't answer. He didn't want to remember Summer right now. And he cursed Raven for bringing her up.

"Well, it certainly has been a while," Raven said, the smug smile never faltering from her face. "I would have never expected you to be here, out of all places."

"What? I can't visit the place where I was born?" Qrow snapped, turning away from Raven and back to leaning on the well's edge. "I came here to be alone."

Raven scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You forget that I too was born here as well, Brother. I always come to visit this place here and then."

Qrow ignored her, but turned slightly and caught a glimpse of her weapon at her hip. A polished silver and red longsword that he had always seen her fight with in the past. Qrow knew it was the first shinki she obtained and the one she's had the longest, though he never saw or met the actual shinki behind it.

"Why'd you bring your weapon?" He asked, still annoyed by her presence, but she wasn't leaving, and the silence between them was only adding to his headache.

Raven rolled her eyes and scoffed once more, this time more dramatic with annoyance, as if his question was the stupidest and pointless thing she'd ever heard.

"We gods have shinki for a reason. Without them, we are left undefended and vulnerable. It's simply wise for me to carry mine around." She glanced towards the hand he'd used earlier in the failed attempt to call for his shinki, and narrowed her eyes in judgment. "Fitting that you would be without yours. You never made the wisest decisions, did you brother?"

Qrow ignored the judgmental look on her face. "Yeah, well at least I let mine have her freedom, and not take her wherever I go like some animal."

Raven scowled at that statement, and grit her teeth. "It's called loyalty." She held a firm grasp around the handle of her longblade in a threatening manner. "Something your shinki seem to not understand."

Qrow had enough.

"You don't know _anything_ about my shinki!" He yelled, the frustration and anger building up. "She is one of the most dedicated and loyal shinki I have ever known! So _don't_ give me that crap!"

Raven only seemed to grow angrier, gritting her teeth and gripping the longblade's handle like she was ready to cut someone's eyes out. But she stopped and took a deep breath, regaining her temper and posture. She opened her eyes and her expression went back to an apathetic stare.

"I don't have time for this nonsense. I was given a task to expel some Grimm near the forests." She pulled out a slip of paper, waving it around like she was flaunting it or something. She quickly put it away and gripped her longblade again, not as forceful this time. "I would say it was nice to see you again, brother, but I would be lying, now would I?" She began to walk, not waiting for Qrow's response. She passed him and disappeared farther into the forest.

Qrow went back to leaning at the well, picking up his discarded flask and cursing himself for the empty flask and the spilled vodka on the pavement.

"Fuck you too, Raven."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND WE NOW HAVE RAVEN!!!!  
still decided to make her just as bitchy as canon... but I have better plans for her in the future ;) her character was fun to write anyways and i can't wait to write more bitchy and badass dialogue for her!
> 
> also, here's a fun little trivia fact abt the au  
shinki have given names (their normal names) and vessel names which are used to transform them into weapons. Ruby's vessel name is Aki (meaning 'autumn') and if it wasn't obvious in this chapter, Summer's vessel name was Ginki (meaning 'silverware') just for those of y'all who haven't seen noragami and are confused by why I keep using the name Aki
> 
> anyways, i hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
comments and feedback are greatly appreciated!  
\- linda


	9. The Cure to Loneliness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby has a realization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey...long time no see huh??
> 
> first off i just want to apologize for the unexpected hiatus on this book. i had started writing chapter 9 about four months ago and unfortunately got writer's block in the middle of it and had no idea how to finish it. on top of that, life has just been so crazy lately. i started school, and also had a few things happen in my personal life that had me really unmotivated to write for a while. but i'm back now and i have a few ideas for how I want to continue this book!! hopefully I can get back to updating more often so let's see how that goes.
> 
> but thank you for being patient with me and enjoying my work, I really appreciate it!  
-Lin
> 
> (P.S. I also just realized that today marks one year since I started this fanfic!! yay!!)

Jaune and his friends were currently dragging Ruby throughout the city, something Ruby had never experienced before. Friends. Back when she was alive, Ruby was never the most social of people. Her mother had convinced her many times to go out and make some friends, but it was never that easy. Especially after her mother had died, and Ruby was sent to live in a crowded foster home where everyone practically ignored her. 

So when Nora wrapped an arm around her shoulders and dragged her off towards the city, she smiled.

"On Saturdays, we usually have this thing where we go to this coffee shop down the street and hang out there for a few hours."

"Sugar House Coffee," Jaune added.

Ruby's eyes lit up at the familiar name. "Oh! I remember that place! My mom used to work there when I was younger, she used to take me to work with her all the time." She smiled at the memory of whenever her mom would sneak her a cupcake or two from the kitchen during her lunch hour. "I heard it's changed a lot since then."

Jaune shrugged. "Eh, changed is a bit dramatic choice of words. It's more like they just repainted and redecorated the place."

The trio lead Ruby down the sidewalk and to a crosswalk. Ruby looked up at her surroundings before she realized just where she was.

Despite the light for the crosswalk being green, Ruby stopped in her tracks, causing the trio to stop and turn around when they realized she wasn't coming.

"Ruby?" Jaune asked, worry etched into his face. "What's wrong? Why'd you stop?"

Ruby stood still, staring at that crosswalk with a cold empty glare, standing so stiff she looked frozen.

"Ruby?" Nora asked, stepping towards the silver-eyed girl.

It took a couple seconds before Ruby snapped out of whatever trance she had been in and shook her head apologetically, swallowing hard.

"Sorry," she stammered out, her voice breathy, she began to visibly shake. "It's just that I just now realized..."

The three waited for Ruby to continue, but she didn't, and the three shared a look of concern. Nora turned back to Ruby, moving to grab a hold of her hands. "Realized what?"

Ruby pulled her hands away before Nora could grab them, and this shocked the redhead a bit, returning her own hands to her sides awkwardly. Ruby took a deep shaky breath and closed her eyes, and opened them with a melancholy gaze in her eyes.

"This is the place where I died."

The three fell quiet, not knowing what to say or how to respond, and there was an awkward uncomfortable silence.

"I'm sorry," Ruby said suddenly, breaking the silence. "I know I'm being pathetic, but I don't like crossing this street ever since...you know."

"No, no, it's fine." Jaune said, holding out a hand to silence Ruby. "We can go another way."

This made Ruby smile, and eased her uneasiness a bit. Jaune smiled back.

"Okay yeah, we can take the long way around." Ren said, and Nora nodded. The group turned back around and began to walk back, and away from the street where Ruby had been so uncomfortable with crossing.

"So.... Ruby..." Nora started, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "Do you know any other gods besides Qrow? Ooh, how about other shinki! Do you knowing any other shinki!?" She asked, her voice regaining her enthusiasm again.

Ruby faced the ground. "For gods, I only know a few, same with shinki too." She then looked back up at Nora, noticing her expectant glance like she was waiting for her to continue. Jaune and Ren had the same face too.

"Right so there's Amber, the god of wind. I guess you could say she's a...friend of Qrow's. More like a pity friend when he gets drunk and I need a place to leave him for the night."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Qrow drinks?"

Ruby nodded. "I said he was a god, not that he was a smart one. I always say if it's not Grimm that'll kill him, it'll be drinking that will." She half-joked, only because she fears it might actually end up killing him one day if she isn't there to stop him.

"So that's Amber, and her shinki is a man named Taiyang, who turns into a staff in his weapon form. I've seen her fight Grimm before, she's so cool!"

"Isn't there a shrine dedicated to the God of WInd? Up on the hill near the river?" Jaune asked.

"I think there is," Ren answered. "But I think it says 'Autumn' instead of 'Amber'."

"Oh yeah, she goes by multiple names too, many gods do actually. Many people know the God of Wind as Autumn, but we just call her Amber."

Nora's face lit up. "I've actually heard about Autumn before! I think in a book I read about gods."

Ruby smiled. "The only other god I know of is Winter, the God of War and one of the seven famous Gods of Fortune. She's a pretty big deal in the Far Shore."

"One of the seven gods of Fortune?" Jaune asked, surprised. "She must be pretty popular then."

"And here's the best part," Ruby grinned. "I'm best friends with her most prized shinki."

Nora's eyes widened in amazement, and Ruby could literally see the excitement sparkle in them. "YOU'RE BEST FRIENDS WITH THE SHINKI OF A GOD OF FORTUNE!?" She exclaimed, practically bouncing on her heels. "DOES THIS MEAN WE CAN MEET HER!?"

"The shinki or the god?" Ren asked Nora, confused.

Nora smacked him on the arm. "The god, you doofus!" Nora gasped, another idea going off in her head. She then turned to Ruby, grabbing her shoulders. "Will she grant my wishes??? _Can she make me rich???_"

Jaune moved to yank the hyperactive girl off of Ruby, while the silver-eyed girl managed to regain her balance.

When she did, she only nodded slightly.

"Meet Winter? _Hell_ no. I just said I'm best friends with her shinki, but she doesn't know that." Ruby chuckled, remembering all the nights of listening to Weiss discuss about what could happen if they were caught, and reassuring her that they weren't going to. "If Winter ever found out I was hanging out with her shinki, I'm pretty sure she would kill me."

Jaune and the others looked confused, turning to each other before facing Ruby. Jaune swore this girl was a mystery, as much as the world she came from, and he wanted to know every bit of it.

"What did you do that was so bad to make Winter want to kill you?" The blonde spoke, watching as she gave him a look a confusion before breaking out into a fit of laughs. The trio looked to each other once again, before turning back to Ruby.

She finally managed to stop laughing before wiping away a fake tear. "What makes you think I did anything? I haven't even spoken to Winter all this time. No. You can blame this one on my idiotic drunk of a master." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms at the last sentence.

Jaune opened his mouth to say something, but got interrupted as Ruby continued to talk, walking while she did so.

"And the thing is, I have no idea what he did. What they did. They hate each other like there's no tomorrow, and I have no idea why." Ruby closed her eyes and sighed in frustration. "And everytime I would ask him, he would ignore me and start drinking again. Ugh! It pisses me off sometimes, I swear."

She continued to walk, obsorbed in her thoughts. So much so she didn't realize she was in the middle of the street, or see the car coming straight for her.

And when she did open her eyes, the first thing she saw was not the car, but instead, a blonde boy running straight towards her.

_Jaune._

He pushed her out of the street, almost in the exact way he had done so before when they had just met. Only this time she didn't disappear. She sat, staring in complete shock as she realized what just happened.

He could hear the worried shouts of Nora and Ren behind him, a sense of deja vu washing over him like an ocean wave.

"You really need to stop doing that." He said, almost in a joking manner but Ruby only rolled her eyes in frustration as she moved to stand up, not bothering to help Jaune.

"You're such an idiot. You do know I can't actually die from physical things right?"

"`Well you still should be more careful!"

"And maybe you should learn to mind your own business! I can handle myself, I don't need anyone looking out for me!" Ruby moved and turned on her heal to continue walking, hoping the conversation would end and they could just keep walking in quiet, but Jaune continued, obviously not finished.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ruby balled up her hands into fists, trying not to get even more frustrated than she already was. _She was dead._ Why should Jaune get to lecture her about her own safety? It's not as if she can just die from earthly things. _She was strong_. And she wasn't going to just sit here and listen to some human boy lecture her about being careful.

"Well maybe it's because of you interfering with my life that you're stuck in this mess!"

The trio stood silent, shocked by what Ruby had just said. Nora looked visibly uncomfortable, covering her ears and shaking her head with Ren holding her by the shoulders to try and calm her down. Jaune had a face a shock and anger. But his expression didn't make Ruby feel any less better, in fact it only made her feel worse about herself. She turned around and tried her hardest not to cry, because it would be stupid for her to cry after yelling at some human for interfering with her life.

"You know what," Jaune began, his tone more calm but it still carried an edge. "Maybe it's because I actually care about people that I saved you from that truck. Maybe there are people who actually care about you enough to interfere with your life."

Ruby let out a shaky breath, trying to focus on not crying.

"So don't tell me it's not any of my business. Because I chose to save you from that car. I chose to get myself into this whole crazy mess."

"I chose to be friends with you."

And that finally broke the wall.

Tears started flooding out of Ruby's eyes, herself unable to hold them back any longer.

It was stupid that she was crying. She just yelled at him, and now he's saying they're friends and here she is, crying like a child.

She's supposed to be strong. Shinki can't show weakness. They can't show vulnerability. Doing so would only hurt the gods.

"I'm sorry..." She said in between sobs. "I- I don't know why I'm crying, I just-"

Her sentence was swiftly cut off as she felt arms, Jaune's arms wrap around her as he pulled her into an embrace. She returned the gesture and hugged him back, still crying into his chest.

"You don't have to be strong all the time. It's good to just...let yourself be vulnerable every once in a while."

She didn't respond, only nodded as she buried her head closer into Jaune's chest. And soon enough, Ren and Nora joined the hug too.

A couple minutes went by until Ruby managed to stop crying, and the four of them finally broke the group hug. Nora smiling cheerfully as she slung her arms around Ruby's neck.

"Yay, we're all friends again!" She said, which made Ruby let out a small laugh, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

"Do you still want to go to Sugar House?" Ren asked, turning to Ruby as he pointed down the sidewalk with his thumb, where the place in question could be seen.

Ruby smiled and nodded. "Yeah, sure." She said, and the group began walking back towards the coffee shop, with Nora practicing twirling around in excitement.

Ruby turned to Jaune with a guilty look. "Hey uh...sorry for yelling at you. I shouldn't have gotten all defense like that." She moved her gaze down to her feet, trying to avoid eye contact. "I guess I'm just not used to the whole 'friends' thing yet."

"Its fine, don't worry about it." The blonde said with a smile. "It's completely normal for friends to fight, right?" He asked wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

Ruby smiled at that. At the fact that they were considered friends. She had friends. Friends who didn't care about the type of god she served or why she stuck with him. Friends who didn't care that she was dead or could turn into a 50 pound scythe.

She had _real_ friends, who weren't gods or shinkis or spirits but _human_, like she once was. And maybe this meant that she didnt have to play hero all the time. Maybe this meant she could let her guard down every once and a while. She could do normal human things and not feel like the world was so _against_ her all the time. She could be vulnerable and be herself.

And unlike her previous life, Ruby now had people who would be there for her no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and feedback are appreciated! <3


	10. Corruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ozpin and Salem's plans are finally going into action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! here's chapter 10!! i've been planning this chapter (and the story arc it introduces!) since I first started writing this fic! i had to cut a bit out from the end and add it to the next chapter though because this chapter was already getting really long (5k+ words!) and I needed to cut it off somewhere haha! anyways, y'all better buckle up because this is where the story gets crazy!

The moment Ruby walked into the doors of the high school, the memories flooded back to her again. She didn't really have the best memories of school back when she was a human. She didn't have any friends and no one would've wanted to talk to her anyway. They would talk about her behind her back, saying how weird she was, reminding her of her last couple of miserable years alive.

But this time was different. She had friends now, friends who cared about her. And she was here to see Jaune anyway, not reminisce about her sad lonely life prior to death.

She and Jaune didn't go to the same school, which she was secretly thankful for. She didn't know if she would be able to step foot in that place again.

She continued to walk, invisible to the human eye. She had no idea which class Jaune was in right now, but she did know that lunch started in about 5 minutes, so she waited near the entrance of the school outside of the office on a bench that's usually there for visitors to wait. She played with her hair and messed with her nails, trying to pass the small amount of time she had to wait.

She did catch notice of a few framed pictures near the front wall of the entrance of the school. Most of them were pictures of each of the classes, but a few were pictures of the sports teams at the school. After skimming through them, she found Ren in one of the track team photos and Nora in the volleyball one, which was pretty interesting. She didn't see Jaune however, assuming he wasn't on any sports teams.

The bell rung and carried Ruby out of her thoughts, she looked away from admiring the pictures to the main hall and staircase where a flood of students could be seen making their way to the cafeteria, and some even leaving through the front entrance.

She waited for Jaune by the entrance where she stood. 2 minutes passed and still no sign of Jaune or her other friends. She really should've just called him.

Just as she was about to pull out her phone and call Jaune to let her know she was here, she felt someone shove her to the side and into the wall, dropping her phone in the process.

"Hey, watch it, freak." The person said as Ruby moved to pick up her phone, panicking over if it shattered or not.

She moved to look at the guy who shoved her.

"Hey, you were the one who bumped into me!" She said against her better judgment to not cause trouble, especially in public.

He grinned. "And if I did? What are you gonna do about it, freak?"

"Stop calling me that!"

"I can call you whatever I want."

Ruby then heard footsteps behind her and all of a sudden, there was someone standing in front of her, partially blocking her view of the guy.

"Leave her alone."

_Jaune._

The guy looked at Jaune. then back to Ruby who was behind him, then scoffed and began to walk away, leaving the two alone in the now empty hallway.

Ruby looked at Jaune, about to tell him that she could handle herself and to scold him for interfering, before remembering what he had said the past weekend. She took a deep breath and smiled. "Thanks, Jaune."

Jaune smiled back. "Don't mention it." After a few seconds, he gave her a confused look. "What're you doing here?"

Ruby smirked and punched his arm lightly. "What? A girl can't hang out with her friends?"

Jaune let out a chuckle. "Right, right. It's just that if I would've known I would've gotten here sooner."

Ruby waved him off. "Eh, it's fine. You're here now."

Jaune only nodded and smiled. "C'mon, we can go to the courtyard behind the school. That's usually where Nora, Ren, and I eat lunch when it's not too cold."

He began walking towards the back of the school and Ruby followed since he clearly knew where he was going. They reached a pair of doors that led to the back courtyards of the school. They passed a bunch of students sitting at tables, benches, some standing. They ended up stopping at a grassy spot pretty far from all the commotion near the school. The two sat down and Jaune took out a plastic bag from his backpack, which apparently had his lunch in it.

"What did ya bring?" Ruby asked, curiously peeking her head into the bag to see what he brought.

"Nothing special, just a tuna sandwich." He said, noticing how Ruby's eyes practically lit up as soon as he mentioned it. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You uh... wanna split half?"

Ruby's eyes lit up even more as she gasped. "Um, yes please!" She held her hands out as if expecting him to hand over the half she was promised. "I haven't eaten all day!"

He tore the sandwich in half and gave her the slightly bigger piece (to which Ruby didn't mind one bit) and began eating her lunch.

"So," Ruby began through a mouthful of food. "Where are Nora and Ren?"

Jaune tried not to laugh at how dumb she sounded with her mouth full.

"They're in a student council meeting right now. They always have those every Monday during lunch. It's just me and you today."

Ruby turned to her blonde friend in confusion, still chewing her half of the sandwich. "Okay, I can totally see Ren joining the student council, but Nora? Really?"

He laughed. "Trust me, you wouldn't be the only one who's shocked. Nora only joined because of Ren, that and because they always provide food at every meeting and that was basically enough to draw her in."

Ruby set down her sandwich on the napkin Jaune had given her and laughed. "Yeah, I can totally see that now."

The two talked for the remainder of the lunch period about anything and everything they possibly could. It was a nice thing to know that she and Jaune could talk for hours without either of them getting bored. The only other person with who she could do that was Weiss, but she was usually busy helping Winter or doing other business. It felt nice to just talk to someone else, reminding her that she can let loose and be carefree every once in a while without having to worry about the fate of the world or something like that.

Just as Jaune was about to talk about the time he and Nora got stuck in the school elevator during a fire drill, the bell rang, signifying the end of the lunch period and their little hang out.

"Aw man, that didn't even feel like an entire lunch period," Ruby complained, while Jaune moved to pick up his and Ruby's trash into the plastic bag to throw away.

"Tell me about it. Man, I really don't want to go to Chemistry today. We have a test which I totally forgot to study for."

Ruby smirked. "Want me to look up the answers and give them to you during the test?"

"Ruby! No! I can't cheat!" He exclaimed.

She laughed at his reaction. "Relax! I'm joking!" She stood up, picking up Jaune's backpack and handing it to him. "I need to get back anyways to make sure Qrow hasn't gotten alcohol poisoning or something like that." She said in a casual way.

"Of courseee, you go do that then." He smiled, taking the backpack from Ruby and slinging it over his shoulder. "This was fun, we should do it again sometime. Maybe with Ren and Nora next time."

Ruby smiled. "Of course. Well, I guess I'll see ya later. Tell me how you did on the test!"

"If my grade isn't too embarrassing, sure." He smiled and waved. "See you later Ruby."

She watched him walk off and into the school, followed by everyone else who was outside during the lunch period. She stood there waiting until everyone eventually went inside and to their next class, leaving Ruby alone outside behind the school.

"Maybe I should ask if we can hang out more tomorrow. I'm sure it'll be just as fun with Ren and Nora here too." She gave a small chuckle thinking of the redhead, imaging how much chaos she probably caused at that student council meeting.

She sighed. _Maybe things won't be so bad after all—_

Her thought was cut off by a sound coming from the woods behind her. Ruby turned around, getting ready to create a borderline if she needed to. She heard the sound again, much closer this time.

"Who's there?" She hesitantly asked, her hand still ready to manifest her border.

After a few more seconds of silence, Ruby sighed and put her hand down, surveying the area one last time just in case. She shook her head and turned around back towards her apartment.

"It's probably nothi—"

A hand clasped firmly over her mouth, another around her throat, choking her.

Ruby's eyes went wide as she screamed, struggling for air, fighting and clawing at the hands over her mouth and throat.

"Do not struggle," The voice said. A voice she's definitely heard before. "It will only make things worse for him."

And with that, everything went black.

  
—————————

  
Ren and Nora walked down the stairs of the school, following the crowd of everyone else who was leaving. Both of them were listening to music on Ren's phone through a shared pair of earbuds.

"Jaune texted me and said he's getting picked up by Saph today, so he won't be walking home with us today," Ren said, once they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Guess it's just you and me then!" Nora said, jumping down the last step with enthusiasm, causing the earbud to fall out of her ear. Ren gave a small laugh, handing it back to her.

"You wanna change the song?" He asked, not surprised when she nodded and grabbed his phone from his hand. It took a few moments but she finally found the song she wanted and handed it back to him.

He smiled and they continued walking, past the front doors of the school and towards the sidewalk.

"Oh yeah I forgot to mention, Ruby and I were texting earlier today during my free period," Ren said as they walked. "She was telling me more stuff about Gods and all that."

"Ooh," Nora's eyes lit up in interest. "Tell me!"

"Well," he began, trying to remember what the two had talked about earlier. "She mentioned that gods and shinki have a pretty interesting bond. Apparently, gods can feel the emotions of their shinki."

Nora looked at him confused. "What does that mean?"

"I'm not entirely sure. She just said that if a shinki does something morally wrong or if they experience negative emotions, their gods can be 'tainted' or 'blighted'."

"Is that...bad?" She asked, not really understanding what Ren was trying to explain. Not that she could blame him, this whole situation was really something that could be easily explained. There were still a ton of things Nora wanted to ask Ruby about.

"I asked her the same thing," Ren said, bringing Nora out of her thought. "She said it wasn't anything to be worried about. At least not with her and Qrow.

"Huh, I mean, if she says so. That's still a pretty interesting thing to know..." Nora said.

"Hey, you two!"

The duo heard a voice call out to them. They looked around and saw a blonde-haired man waving to them. It was then that they realized they were passing by Autumn's — or rather Amber's — shrine.

"Uh," he turned to Nora who shrugged, then turned back to the man. "Can we help you?"

'Uh yeah, I'm...a friend of Ruby's. She's told me a lot about you guys," The man began. "I'm Taiyang. The shinki of the God of Wind, Amber."

"Oh uh, nice to meet you, sir," Ren said. "I'm Ren, this is Nora. And yeah, we're friends of Ruby's."

"Oh, that's great then," He said. "I was wondering if you've seen her lately or know where she is. She usually comes by here during the day on weekdays, and she hasn't shown up at all today which is a bit concerning."

Nora and Ren gave each other a look, before turning back to Taiyang.

"I'm sorry, we haven't seen her today. The last time we saw her was this weekend." Ren answered, confused about why he was looking for Ruby. Ren knew Ruby was a carefree and unpredictable person, surely it wouldn't be weird for her to disappear every once in a while.

"Well, if it isn't too much to ask, do you both mind going to her place to see if she might be there?" Taiyang asked. "I would go myself, but Amber's currently away for a meeting in Takamagahara and asked me to take care of the shrine."

Ren wasn't entirely sure if they should go, but Nora agreed anyway.

"I mean, she is our friend, so yeah, why not!" She exclaimed, eagerly bouncing on the heels of her feet. She then turned to Ren. "I mean, it's not like we have anything better to do."

"Fine, we can go." Ren finally said, trying to hold Nora in place.

"Great," Taiyang said, before pulling out a piece of paper, scribbling something on it. He handed it to Ren, who saw it was a phone number.

"Let me know if you find her." The shinki said. "Try knocking first, and if no one answers, there's a spare key in the potted plant near the door."

Ren raised an eyebrow, about to make a comment on how the key wouldn't be necessary before Nora snatched the phone number out of Ren's hands and rushed down the sidewalk ahead of him. 

"C'mon slowpoke!" She yelled ahead of him, causing Ren to smile and shake his head slightly before running to rush after him.

He chased her for a while before they finally reached the apartment complex where Ruby and Qrow lived. Ren pulled out his phone to quickly check which floor and room number they lived in (Ruby had texted them her address over the weekend) before walking into the building with Nora.

The two took the elevator to Ruby's floor and navigated the hallways before they reached the correct unit. Ren raised his hand to knock on the door firmly but not too loud.

The two waited for about 20 seconds or so before Ren knocked again, a bit harder this time. After a minute of waiting there was still no response.

"Maybe try... louder?" Nora said.

Ren shook his head, pulling out his phone again to just call or text Ruby to ask where she is.

_"HELLO??? IS ANYONE THERE??"_ Nora yelled, loud enough to cause Ren to almost drop his phone.

"Nora! Keep your voice down!" He scolded her. "There could be other people here!"

Nora sighed. "I was just making sure!"

The redhead turned her attention to the potted plant, remembering what the blonde guy had said about using the spare key is no one answered. She kneeled down and began searching for the key.

"Nora!" He exclaimed, not even surprised by her actions.

"What!? He said we could!"

Ren shook his head. "That doesn't mean we should-"

"Too late!" She cut him off, pulling out the key from the plant. Ren sighed in defeat.

"Fine, but I'm not opening it."

"Fine by me!" Nora moved to the door, inserting the key in and turning it, unlocking the door and opening it.

The door swung open slowly with a creak, making Ren assume that the apartment was probably an older building or something like that. He pushed the thought to the side and took in his surroundings. The lights were off in the kitchen and living room. Papers were stacked on the counter. So far everything seemed pretty normal. And it was pretty clear that no one was home-

"Wait! Do you hear that?" Nora said suddenly, and Ren was almost surprised by the seriousness in her voice. He stood still to listen to what Nora was talking about, and sure enough, he heard a noise, faint but there.

"Look around." He told her, and Nora listened, he moved towards the kitchen and assumed Nora went to look towards the rooms. He didn't see anything strange or see anyone for that matter. He then heard the creak of a door, and suddenly, the noise was much louder.

"Um...R-Ren...." Nora's voice rang out in the empty hallway. Ren turned around and ran to where Nora was, she stood still at the doorway of one of the rooms, clearly shocked. Ren pushed past her to enter the room himself, where he then saw none other than Qrow, laying on the floor, groaning in pain.

"Qrow!?" Ren exclaimed, rushing down to the floor beside him, Nora following and doing the same.

"W-What happened..!?" The redhead said, her voice wavering. She reached out her hand to touch his arm, ignoring the man's protest to not touch him, before she felt a shock of pain in her hand, retracting it to her chest. She looked down at her hand, seeing that it was covered in a dark substance, exactly like the one covering Qrow.

"W-What is this..??" She asked, eyes wide with panic. She looked over to Qrow. His eyes were shut, and he was struggling to even breathe. It was more of a hypothetical question, she really didn't expect him to answer if he couldn't even breathe.

"It's blight," Ren said, causing Nora to turn her head in confusion. He didn't look at her, only kept his eyes on the man lying in front of them.

"Gods and shinki share a connection," He began. "When a shinki does something morally wrong, or experience negative emotions..."

"...they get blighted...." Nora finished, remembering what Ren had told her earlier when they were walking home.

"Qrow, where's Ruby?" Ren asked, not surprised when Qrow shook his head, the god not able to answer as he lay uselessly on the cold bedroom floor.

"This is bad..." Nora said, then pulled out the crumpled piece of paper from her pocket that contained Taiyang's phone number. She hesitantly handed it to Ren, who took it without a doubt and stood up to call the blonde shinki.

Tai answered on the fourth ring. "Hello? Did you manage to find Ruby?"

"No," Ren said bluntly. "And we have a much bigger problem."

—————————

Taiyang dropped everything at a moment's notice to head to the apartment. He knew Amber had told him to keep an eye on the shrine, but this was way more important than that.

He never thought something like this would happen, to Qrow especially. Sure, Ruby was wild and rambunctious sometimes, but she was a good and loyal shinki. Like her mother, she would never do anything that would cause her god to be tainted.

Or at least, he hoped she wouldn't.

But Qrow told another story.

He rushed into the building and headed directly up the stairs to the floor they lived on, not surprised when he saw the very last door in the hallway wide open.

He could feel the negative energy in the air as soon as he stepped into the room. It was a dark and horrible feeling. And it made the weary feeling he was experiencing earlier now made complete sense.

"Oh gods..." It was worse than he thought when he saw Qrow. The blight almost covered him completely. He knew that wherever Ruby was, she was definitely not okay. And they needed to find her, fast.

He turned to the kids, standing out of the way to the side of the room. The redhead looked like she was panicking and the boy with the long hair was trying to calm her down. He also noticed her hands were tainted.

"The blight is contagious," He said, even though he assumed the two had already realized that. "To humans, it's harmless. It's nothing to worry about if _you_ get infected. Gods and shinki on the other hand..." His gaze turned to Qrow.

"We need to find Ruby." The boy with the long hair, Ren, said.

Taiyang nodded. "We do. You said you haven't seen her at all today, right?"

"Right," Ren answered, still holding onto Nora. "We were texting earlier, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary."

"And there's no one else that might know where she is?" He asked. "What about the other boy she talks about?"

"Jaune," Nora said, turning to Ren with a concerned look. "Maybe he knows where she is..."

"Then I'll call him," Ren said and excused himself out of the room to call Jaune. Nora followed him, sitting down on the living room couch, waiting for Ren to make the call.

_"Hey Ren,"_ Jaune answered. _"What's up?"_

Ren cut straight to the point. They didn't have much time here.

"Do you know where Ruby is? We don't know where she is, and we need to find her now." He said a slight panic in his voice.

_"No, not right now. We did hang out earlier during lunch, while you guys were at the meeting today."_

"What...?"

_"Yeah,"_ Jaune continued._ "We sat in the courtyard behind the school in front of that foresty area."_

"Did you see where she went afterward?"

_"No,"_ the blonde said. _"She was still there when I went inside. If she went anywhere after that, I didn't see."_

"Then we need to go there to see if we can find something that might tell us where she is. Meet us at the school in a few minutes, we'll explain everything." And with that, Ren hung up without leaving the blonde any time to respond.

He put up his phone and turned to Nora, who was still sitting on the couch, staring at her blighted hands.

"We need to head to the school." He told her, and the redhead stood up and nodded.

'Did he say anything?" Nora asked.

"He said they hung out during lunch when we were at the council meeting. Behind the school near that wooded area."

Nora looked up at him, walking over to hold his hands in hers, but she stopped before she did, seeing her tainted hands and remembering how they were contagious. Harmful or not, she didn't want to taint Ren.

"Then let's go find Ruby." She said, giving Ren a small and uncertain smile.

—————————

Jaune arrived at the school, having walked from his house which wasn't too far, but apparently far enough to be the last one to arrive. Nora and Ren were already waiting for him near the front, the two of them looked worried. What worried him though was the fact that Nora's hands were purple, and he felt a strange energy coming from whatever had stained her hands.

"G-Guys? What happened?" He asked, looking down at Nora's hands. He then looked to Ren. "Why are we looking for Ruby?"

"Something bad happened to Qrow, and we all think it's because of Ruby. Even more so because of the fact that we haven't seen her at all today." Ren answered, him and Nora wasting no time to stand around and talk. The two of them began to head up the main stairs into the entrance of the school, and Jaune quickly caught up with them.

"But I saw her today, she seemed fine," Jaune said, confused on what was going on. Everything Ren was saying made no sense. Something bad happened to Qrow? Because of Ruby? What did she do? What happened to Qrow?

"Well right now, she's not. And we need to find her now before Qrow gets worse." Ren said, without looking back.

The trio said nothing after that as they followed Ren towards the back of the school to the doors that lead to the courtyard behind the school. From there, Jaune took the lead and went directly to the spot where he and Ruby ate lunch earlier that day.

"This is the place," He said, and as soon as he did, he felt a strange aura, lingering around him. He didn't know what it was, but it felt so familiar. He definitely felt this aura somewhere before. He just needed to remember where--

_The air around him froze, something felt off again. The voice came back to him, the small very faint voice and the distant aura, he felt it again, only this time he knew who it was coming from._

_It was the girl. The girl with the short dark red hair. The girl with the cool mysterious silver eyes. The girl who was staring right at him._

Ruby.

"She was here." He said suddenly, causing Nora and Ren (whose conversation he'd been ignoring for the past few moments) to stop talking and look at him, both confused about what he had just said.

"Who was here?" Ren asked, looking at Nora who only shrugged.

Jaune didn't look at him. "It... It's Ruby. She... She was here."

"Jaune, we already know that. That's why we're here looking for her-"

"No, I know that! I was here with her!" The blonde said, putting his hands up in defense before sighed and putting them back down. "What I meant was... I can sense her aura. I can sense she was here."

"Her... aura?" Nora asked, confused.

"It's- It's hard to explain. When I first met her, or right before actually. I could sense someone, it was far, but it was definitely there." He explained, to which the two tried their best to remember. It was the day Jaune first jumped in front of the street.

"So, you can sense gods and shinki and stuff??" Nora asked, trying to understand what Jaune was trying to say. She got her answer when Jaune gave a hesitant nod, but he still looked confused.

"Yeah, I can sense Ruby was here, but... but I'm sensing something else. Something... darker. Like someone else was here."

Ren walked over to Jaune, putting his hand on the blonde's shoulder. "If you can find out anything that might tell us where she could be, please. We're running out of time."

With the look of worry on Ren's face, in his eyes, Jaune knew he was being serious. So he nodded, and closed his eyes, trying to focus on the darker, more concentrated aura. 

He didn't know this aura, meaning it couldn't have been anyone he met before (not that he's met any other Far Shore beings besides Qrow and Ruby). This aura was definitely much stronger than Ruby's, meaning it must've been a God, or at least someone more powerful than a shinki. It felt... very foreign and dark.

Wait...

There was a third aura here.

The third aura was powerful, only slightly less powerful than the one he was originally trying to decipher. It wasn't as dark as the other, it felt... brighter. But it also felt....corrupted??

_This god stuff is really weird..._ Jaune thought, before shaking the thought out of his head and focusing back on trying to read the auras.

He tried to remember everything he had learned about mythology, everything he had learned from Ruby.

Qrow's aura felt strange… it was a feeling he got that reminded him of a bad omen. Like something was going to happen when he was in his presence. Fitting since he ended up being the God of Misfortune.

So if this aura gives off a feeling of certain darkness... then...

"The God of Darkness."

Ren and Nora looked at him, unsure of what he had just said.

"The God of Darkness... whoever that might be... was here, with Ruby."

"God of... Darkness...?" Nora said, her voice wavering. "That sounds bad..."

"T-There's another aura here, but it's too confusing to try and identify who's it is. It feels... heavenly but at the same time... corrupted…"

Ren shook his head. "We can worry about that later. We have a name. This... God of Darkness... maybe Taiyang knows who they are."

"Right," Jaune answered, "We should get back."

And with that, the trio took off running towards the school, and back in the direction of Qrow's apartment.

—————————

Ruby groaned as she slowly regained consciousness, blinking her eyes to adjust to the light (or rather, lack of light). Her body felt weak as if something has drained her of her power.

She used her hands to push herself off of the stone-cold floor, noticing how sore they are as she does so. The pounding in her head only gets worse as she sits up. She moves her hand to rub her eyes, and it is then when she realizes her hands are chained to the wall behind her.

Panic began to set in as she struggled to pull herself free, fully aware that her efforts weren't going to work. She tried to stay in control of her emotions. Losing control would only end up hurting Qrow, and she made a promise when she first became a shinki that she wouldn't do that.

She also noticed that her ankles were chained as well. Now she was really beginning to question where the hell she was.

She continued to struggle, pulling her arms and legs as hard as she could, surely bruising her wrists and ankles in the process. But she didn't care. All that mattered was getting the hell out of wherever she was.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Doing so will only cause him more pain." A voice rang out, stopping Ruby cold in her tracks. She knew that voice from somewhere, it was the same voice she heard right before she got kidnapped. She assumed it was the same person.

"Who are you? Where am I!?" She asked, the frustration and anger clear in her tone. She was going to kill whoever put her here.

"I still cannot believe this is the tool you're so focused on." Another voice said from the shadows. "She's a mere child."

"She's a powerful weapon, Salem." The first voice responded, maintaining their calm tone. "By using her, we can assure the God of Misfortune is no longer a threat."

"Very well then," The second, Salem, answered. It was then that the two figures stepped forward into the light (the very little light that did make its way into the place).

Ruby saw a woman with red eyes and white hair. She was wearing a long black dress, carrying a long silver sword in her hand, and Ruby made a wild assumption that it was a shinki.

The second figure stepped forward, and Ruby's hatred immediately began to rise. Dressed in a black suit, and carrying that familiar black cane...

_Ozpin._

"You!" Ruby yelled, trying to run towards him, pulling uselessly at the chains that held her back in place. She really didn't care at that moment. All she wanted to do was strangle the God before her for what he said to Qrow. For kidnapping her.

For killing her mother.

"I swear," Ruby growled, the hatred settling on her features. "I'm going to kill you for what you did to my mother."

That only brought out a laugh from Salem, causing Ruby to shift her gaze from the God of Light to the woman standing beside him.

"What's so funny?" She seethed at the woman.

Salem gave her a wicked look. "Ozpin was not the man who killed your mother." She told her, causing Ruby to stare at her in confusion.

"That," She continued, a smile plastered on her face. "That was my doing."

Ruby stood there, shocked at what Salem had just said, what she had just told her. She killed her mother. This woman in front of her had killed her mother.

And she was _smiling_.

Ruby yelled out in anger, pulling at the chains even harder than before. She thrashed around like a chained animal, unable to break free from those damn restraints. Tears were brimming her eyes, threatening to fall. And she let them. She didn't care about keeping her composure. The woman in front of her had just admitted that she killed her mother with a smile on her face. She wanted nothing more than to break out and rip her to shreds.

Salem's smile didn't falter as she watched the young shinki in front of her. She turned to Ozpin.

"There, her instability will certainly weaken him enough to bring him close to death when we release the Grimm."

Ozpin nodded, his face carrying a blank expression. "Very well, we can begin right now."

And with that, Salem left the room, leaving Ozpin with the screaming shinki.

Ruby continued to pull at the chains until she lost the strength in her legs and fell onto her knees, tears now flowing freely down her face. She choked out a sob, stopping her useless efforts of escape.

"What are you going to do to me?" She asked through a hoarse voice, tired from yelling.

"It's simple, really," Ozpin said, answering as if she genuinely asked the question. "Grimm are attracted to any form of negativity, so by unleashing one here, it will undoubtedly corrupt you, and when a shinki is completely corrupted by the Grimm-"

"Both them and their God dies." Salem finished for him, walking back into the room. Ruby couldn't see them, but she could tell there were Grimm standing behind her, their aura as dark as the woman herself.

"He'll find me," Ruby muttered. "He'll find me, and he'll kill you both for what you did."

Ozpin chuckled for the first time during their interaction, taunting her.

"My dear, it's a bit too late for that."

  
  
That's the last thing Ruby heard before she saw the Grimm, and then felt the darkness consumed her.


End file.
